Grand Bassa-Senator Jonathan Lambert Kaipay has asked the Ministries of Finance, Development Planning, and Commerce to respond to questions about why there is a lack of rice, a staple food for the country, in the local market. Sen. Kaipay called the Senate’s attention to the political history of Liberia, which offers an educational lesson about the crippling impact that rice scarcity or unavailability has on peace and security in the country, in a communication to the Senate plenary on Thursday, October 20, 2022.
It is in the realization of this obvious fact that it has always been a decision of
government rooted in sound judgment that proactive measures are taken to mitigate
the potential social and political disorder that comes with the shortage or
unavailability of the commodity on the market.
The Bassa Lawmaker revealed that the Legislature made a specific provision in the current Budget for a general subsidy to the importers of rice in the amount of eleven million United States Dollars (U$11,000,000.00), according to a release from the senator’s office. He claimed that the Legislature took this action as a preventative measure to avoid a bad outcome.
“To put it another way, given that the Budget is currently being fully implemented and that the Executive Branch has not made any representations regarding any obstacles that may have made it more difficult for it to apply the funds authorized by law to the purposes for which they were budgeted, the events that led to the population’s strangulation should not have occurred at all.”
The two main government agencies, the Ministries of Finance and Commerce, should be invited to testify before the August Body to explain the problem, according to Senator Kaipay’s request to the Liberian Senate Plenary. Sen. Kaipay believes that this is a proper and essential step in carrying out the oversight role of the Senate.
Reported by:
By: Marvin Vah, Jr.
Contacts: 0778401813/0880016548
