By Stephen Cummings
Caribbean Net News Trinidad and Tobago Correspondent
Email: stephen@caribbeannetnews
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad: International market forces are being blamed for shortages of some food items in Trinidad and Tobago. Former president of the Trinidad and Tobago Supermarkets Association and CEO of the Arima Discount Mart in east Trinidad, Balliram Maharaj has highlighted what he says is a shortage of some food items.
Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, Maharaj said peas, beans, certain kinds of meats, cheese and other dairy products are now in short supply. There are also reports of in increase in the price of split peas by over 70 percent. He says wheat has increased by almost 40 percent and powered milk by almost 50 percent in the last three months.
Shortages and increases in the prices of food products have been due to diseases or added demands on the global market in countries such as Russia, China, India and Australia.
Maharaj says in this regard the changes have also affected consumers in Trinidad and Tobago. It is said that producers of regular peas and beans are now diverting their crops to the growing of corn, which is now being used in the making of ethanol, seen as an alternative to fossil fuels.
According to Maharaj, the removal of subsidies in the European countries and the low production in both the United States and New Zealand are other contributing factors to food shortages and rising prices in Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, Trinidad's Minister of Agriculture Jarret Narine has noted the changes in the global environment. Narine says government has already taken steps to cushion the impact to citizens due to the emerging trend.
The National Trade Union Centre in Trinidad and Tobago has also added its voice, saying that the situation speaks of continued inflation in the country, which is being driven partly by high food prices. |
