JEDDAH, 30 May 2008 — People in Makkah province will not face any flour shortage in the future as authorities have taken measures to ensure adequate supply.
“We have enough stock for this year,” said Saleh Al-Turki, chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).
In a statement issued yesterday, Al-Turki said the joint efforts of public and private agencies, including the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the General Organization for Grain Silos and Flour Mills (GOGSFM), was successful in ending the crisis.
“The flour allocation for the province has been increased from 230,000 bags to 400,000 bags weekly,” the JCCI chief said, adding that the present shortage has been solved by supplying an additional three million bags.
“The current stock is enough to meet the increase in demand during the upcoming Umrah and Haj seasons,” Al-Turki said.
All traders and bakeries will receive adequate amounts of flour at reasonable prices, he said. Traders involved in fraudulent practices would be punished.
There are 26 food factories in Jeddah alone, which require 33,805 bags of flour weekly. The city’s 1,079 bakeries consume 142,566 bags weekly. An additional 170,000 bags, each with 45 kilograms, have been provided to meet the shortage.
Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal had held a meeting with top officials in the region, including the directors of the Commerce Ministry office and GOGSFM and chairman of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss measures to counter flour crisis.
“The official agencies have quickly dealt with flour crisis after the JCCI presented a report inviting their attention to the enormity of the problem and making some proposals to solve it,” Al-Turki said.
Speaking about the proposals, the JCCI chairman said his organization had insisted the need to increase the quantity of flour supply by establishing new mills in Makkah province and improving the sales and distribution system.
He said flourmills in Madinah and Hail have been instructed to meet flour needs of Jeddah’s food factories. “There were proposals to establish three companies to avoid possible flour crisis in the future.
The authorities have also updated information about the number of bakeries, food factories and flour distribution agents in order to prevent traders from resorting to unfair practices. Moreover, five committees have been set up to monitor distribution and track down violators.
Interior Minister Prince Naif has warned profiteers who sell flour at prices higher than those set by GOGSFM, saying they will be detained and their shops shut. He has instructed regional governors and other agencies to punish traders who sell flour at exorbitant prices.
Flour is heavily subsidized in the Kingdom and its price has remained the same over the last 30 years. This has encouraged some people to smuggle flour to neighboring countries to make quick money.
The use of flour as a major raw material by big food factories, such as those manufacturing candies and sweets, was another reason for the shortage of flour in the Kingdom. Many farmers used flour to feed their cattle when prices of the usual cattle feed went up.
