Anger as merchants hoard rice

Anger is growing in the Guinean capital as a strike-breaking commitment from the Guinea government to reduce the price of the national staple, rice, has encouraged hoarding among merchants. “I cannot find rice to buy, despite standing in this queue since morning,” said Abdoulaye Dian Diallo. The government reduced the price of a 50 kilo sack of rice from US $24 to US $16, a key deal with workers’ unions that ended a nine-day strike that brought Conakry to a standstill. Police say 11 people were killed in rioting during the strike. Human rights groups estimate as many as 20 people, many of them youths, were killed. Rice is the staple food in many West African countries. Hikes in rice prices have lead to violence in the region; unchecked rises in the price in Liberia were directly linked to the popular violence that sparked a 1980 coup. Most rice traders in Conakry say they will incur huge losses if they sell at the government price and have stopped operations. In 2004, rice importers refused to offload rice from ships in the Conakry port until the government provided money to finance a promised rice subsidy. At a store owned by one of Guinea’s most influential businessmen, El-Hadj Mamadou Sylla in central Conakry, rice is for sale at the new cut-down government price, but Sylla says he’s shouldering a loss. “I am certainly selling at a loss,” said Sylla. “What I am doing is making a sacrifice to Guinea and Guineans.” But would-be buyers outside Sylla’s store said a corruption racket had been set up. “We need only sack of rice each, and for several hours since we’ve been here, they can’t sell to us,” said an angry youth. “They hoard the rice to sell to local market women who later sell it on at exorbitant costs to the public.” Workers at the store said that they could only sell to government workers on production of their identity cards or ‘heads of family’. Observers say that non-government workers are becoming increasingly frustrated that strike-ending benefits thrashed out by workers’ unions only benefit those on the state payroll. Liberalisation of the Guinean economy under the International Monetary Fund has allowed cheap imported rice from the United States to flood the market. And so Guinea, a former net food exporter with a population of 1.3 million people, imports 75,000 tonnes of rice annually, according to government statistics. Human rights groups have accused the government of President Lansana Conte of mismanagement and corruption. Guineans say agricultural production, manufacturing and other industries have declined as a result. as/ss/cs