Koforidua, Sept 15, GNA-A concerned group in Koforidua has raised concerns about the donation of foreign rice brands instead of the made in Ghana brand of rice to the Muslim community to mark the end of the Ramadan.

According to the group, the distribution of foreign rice with the brand called "sultana" was a defeat of government's policy of strengthening the growth of the local rice industry. The group said "it beats our imagination that after government had removed the rice importation tax to ensure that the price of foreign rice was higher to discourage consumers from patronizing it government did not find it prudent to use local rice for such event. The concerned group who raised the issue with GNA said the worrying aspect was that the local rice was cheaper compared to the foreign rice and wondered why government who was determined to strengthen the local rice industry would fail to lead by example.

The group noted that the cost of the five kilogram rice distributed was GHC 13 per bag for the foreign rice while the local rice was GHC 10. According to the group, despite the removal of the import tax on foreign rice, people still purchased them to the detriment of the local rice industry.

They indicated that such moves only contributed to the collapse of the local industry and made it clear that it believed that the President was not aware of that development because of his demonstration of commitment to the agriculture sector. The group therefore called on President, John Evans Atta-Mills to institute an investigation into the reason why at such an opportunity to support the local rice industry, foreign rice was rather used at a time when the local rice industry was crying for market.