Shortage of trucks transporting goods to various parts of the country has crashed the prices of perishable items in Guri Local Government Area of Jigawa.
The price of a basket of tomatoes that sold for N5,000 about a week ago now costs between N2,500 and N3,000.
A BAGCO bag of pepper that sold for between N5,500 and N6,000 before, now sells at between N4,000 and N4,500.
Similarly, a bag of chili pepper that sold at N7,500 a week ago now goes for 4,500.
However, the price of a big bag of onions remains constant at N25,000.
The Chairman of Perishables Sellers Association in Guri Market, Alhaji Musa Zugo, attributed the drop to scarcity of trucks conveying the items to buyers.
“As you can see, the market is flooded with the commodities because very few vehicles are available to transport them to buyers.
“We normally dispatch vehicles loaded with the items to states such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Onisha, Akure, Ibadan and Benin.
“This shortage of trucks, which is likely caused by Christmas festivities, has led to the increase in transport fares by at least 70 percent,” he said.
Zugo identified lack of infrastructure as one of the major challenges facing the market.
“The shops we occupy are few and because there are no big stores, we are compelled to leave our goods on the ground and cover them with torn bags when the market is closed.
“The absence of drains in the market often leads to flooding during the rainy season,” he said.
The chairman, therefore, called on the local council to develop the infrastructure at the market, in view of its revenue generation capacity.(NAN)
