THE COMMISSIONER for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Alumo Orpin, says that the introduction of the Benue sacks into markets across the state was to protect farmers against sharp practices.
Orpin stated this when he appeared before members of the Benue State House of Assembly during plenary on Wednesday in Makurdi.
The commissioner said that business people both within and outside the state had been using all manner of sacks to buy commodities from farmers, thereby shortchanging them.
He told the lawmakers that some traders use elastic sacks with the intention of cheating the farmers.
Orpin said that the policy was part of the weights and measures policy of the Federal Government (FG), stressing that the state only domesticated it.
The commissioner informed the legislators that it was the last administration that domesticated the policy and introduced the sacks as well.
He added that they started with the sacks but would move to other measuring items, such as weighing scales and the like.
Orpin assured the house that there were enough sacks at their warehouse, emphasising that they had engaged enough hands in the production of the sacks.
He also assured them that the issue of tearing of unapproved sacks in the markets and roads for non-compliance would not repeat itself.
He further said that the price of the approved sacks was ₦700, whereas unapproved sacks were sold as high as ₦800 and ₦900 in some places.
The Speaker, Mr Aondona Dajoh, directed the chairmen of committees of commerce and finance and the commissioner to meet the Association of Orange Buyers to resolve the issues within two weeks and get back to the house.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commissioner was invited because there were cries that the cost of the sacks was high and in short supply and the task force were destroying unapproved sacks in markets as well as on the roads. (NAN)
