By Yang Ater Yang
The government of Lakes State has on Wednesday launched the distribution and sale of the first consignment of 15,000 bags of sorghum grains purchased from Sudan by the government to be sold to locals in a subsidized price.
According to authorities, a 90 kilograms sack of sorghum will be sold to citizens at 25,000 South Sudanese Pounds.
The minister of trade and industry in Lakes State, Rebecca Enock Machuoc told No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper that each of the eight (8) counties of Lakes State will receive 1,000 bags of sorghum and each bag will be sold at the affordable price of 25,000 per a bag of 90kg.
She disclosed that a total of 15,000 bags of the sorghum grains have already reached to the state capital Rumbek from Sudan.
“This food items are supplied by South Sudan and Sudan and it is brought based on the situation of local citizens in the country. We have sat down to discuss and we have agreed that each bag should be sold to a local citizen subsidized price of 25,000 SSP and the distribution has been launched yesterday and every county will receive 1,000 bags of sorghum and about 6,000-to-5,000 bags will remain in the state capital Rumbek,” she said.
One Rumbek resident, Andrea Magok Bol said he had already gone to the cooperative government shop to buy the subsidized food grains that’s at least affordable.
“I bought this bag of sorghum at affordable price of 25,000 SSP per a bag, and I thank the government for delivering service to the citizen in Lakes State so that citizen gets their own right,” he said.
Magok said even a person who has nothing can sell his only goat and buy one bag of sorghum at the government subsidized affordable price to survive.
Another beneficiary resident, Aluel Mabor Achol appreciated state governor saying he has done something good to his citizen.
“The problem of traders in the market they keep increasing the price of food items, now the price of 50kg of maize flow brought from Uganda is sold at 40,000 SSP and 20kg is sold at 15,000 SSP in Rumbek Market,” Aluel compared the market.
He lauded the government for succeeding to bring sorghum and sell it at subsidized affordable price saying local citizen in the states had been suffering.
“People who are not working and those who have no money are all suffering like us, common citizen. My message is that we don’t want those traders in Rumbek Market to come and buy these food items from the government and later on sell them to local citizen at unaffordable price,” he cautioned.