Oman is rising up to meet the COVID-19 crisis head-on through enhanced preparedness measures to ensure ample supplies of food stores and agricultural products remain available in the market.
The Public Authority for Stores and Food Reserve (ZAD) held a meeting yesterday [Tuesday, March 31] with wholesalers and retailers of food and consumer commodities in the Sultanate to check on the level of food stocks maintained by wholesale and retail companies to ensure their adequacy for the coming period, reports Oman News Agency (ONA).
During the meeting, Dr. Hamad bin Said al-Oufi, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ZAD stressed that global conditions require all parties to stand side-by-side, whether government agencies or the private sector, and intensify efforts in coordination with private sector institutions to ensure the availability of basic food commodities.
He stressed that ZAD will provide all the facilities requested by the private sector which are under its responsibility, adding that the government will provide all facilities needed by traders and companies in storing food goods in ZAD’s warehouses and supply, customs clearance, and shipping.
On the other hand, Dr. Rashid bin Salim al-Masroori, CEO of ZAD, stressed that the reserves of basic food commodities available in the authority’s warehouses and stores are sufficient to meet the needs of the Sultanate in various emergencies it may face.
Representatives of private sector companies also expressed their willingness to cooperate and coordinate with ZAD and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to achieve the objectives that the government has set forth during this critical period. Attendees addressed the challenges that require action by some government agencies to enable private sector institutions to promptly play their role to support consumers.
Additionally, in a separate statement issued on Tuesday, March 31, Oman’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has said that the Al Mawaleh Central Market for Fruits and Vegetables has seen continued availability of most products, including onions. As many as 1,189 tons of onions were received by the market during the past 48 hours.
As well, the port of Sohar has received 22 shipments from India, the Netherlands, and Spain with a total weight of 988 tons, in addition to 85 tons of Yemeni onions, while the port of Salalah has received 116 tons, and other quantities are set to be received in the upcoming days.
In order to further follow up on agricultural imports and, in coordination with traders of onion wholesale markets, the Ministry’s specialists have designed a form to count the quantities of onions and how they are distributed to traders in various governorates.
This aims to track their distribution in local markets in coordination with the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP), while emphasizing to traders to rationalize and regulate local distribution in all governorates to ensure that commodities are available at fixed prices.
Source: ONA
(Also read: Sale of 9 hand sanitizers banned in Oman.)
The post Coronavirus: Oman has ample stocks of food stores and agricultural products, assure authorities appeared first on Y Magazine. Y - Pulse of Oman. All rights reserved. 2014. https://www.y-oman.com
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