Public concern is mounting over what has been described as a major bottleneck at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in obtaining the Import Permit Declaration (IPD) by business people in the country.
One needs an IPD to import goods into the country as well as discharge them from the Freeport of Monrovia, referred to as the gateway to Liberia’s Economy.
As a result of the reported bureaucracy in obtaining the IPD, most, if not all, of the business people are said to be finding it extremely difficult to import goods into the country, thereby seriously underpinning their overall business operations.
According to them, what is disappointing and frustrating is that, when the goods are imported, getting them from the Free Port of Monrovia is a complete nightmare, as there is great difficulty at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in getting IPD.
The reported bottleneck at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has been attributed to alleged “vested interests” by “some higher-ups” at the Ministry in favor of some business people, at the detriment of majority of business people and by extension the impoverished masses, who can hardly afford their daily meal.
Several Liberians, mainly retailers, who phoned in on a local radio program in Monrovia on Thursday, August 20, 2021, expressed outrage over the escalation of prices of basic commodities, specifically frozen goods, and blamed the situation on the scarcity of key commodities on the local market.
“As I speak to you, there are many imported goods at the various warehouses at the Freeport of Monrovia. Some of them are even getting rotten, simply because the business people who imported them are being denied IPDs by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to get their goods out of the port,” asserted Miata Williams, a dealer in frozen chicken at the densely populated Duala Market, outside Monrovia.
She continued, “In fact, most business people are operating on a loss because they are unable to get all of their goods out of the port, lest to mention importing more goods to make them affordable and available on the local market. This is a serious problem, which needs to be urgently addressed by the government, or the ordinary people will continue bear the brunt of this wicked act for selfish motive.”
Her assertions were supported by several other callers who expressed disdain over the situation, and urged authorities at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to ensure that IPDs are given to business people fairly, and not on a “selective” basis as is allegedly the current case.
Although authorities at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have persistently rejected claims that they usually issue IPD to selected business people for “vested interest”, multiple testimonies from several affected business people in the country say the contrary.