More flour expected in the county next week |11 March 2022
Ms Bistoquet and Mr Jean-Baptiste during the press conference (Photo: Vidya Gappy)
Following an outcry by members of the public at a scarcity of regular flour on the market, Seychelles Trading Company chief executive Siana Bistoquet has said this is linked to difficulties in getting some products into the country.
Ms Bistoquet was speaking to the local media yesterday morning at the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) headquarters on Latanier Road. She was accompanied by her deputy David Jean-Baptiste and the chief of procurement Françoise Robert.
STC chief executive Bistoquet said “the situation the country is in currently has already been explained by the Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan on March 8, 2022 in the National Assembly”.
“With the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, the country will be facing some financial difficulties and difficulties in getting some products. But this being said, currently there is no major issue in our STC shop. We sometimes have a delay in getting potatoes and onions, but we do get them. There are two categories of products we are offering and they are both being accepted by our clients,” added Ms Bistoquet.
Clarifying what was published in a local newspaper about a shortage of flour, CEO Bistoquet explained that there has rather been a delay in getting our regular stock as there was a cyclone in Mauritius and the ship did not move out and secondly there was no place on the boat to bring the consignment.
“These are the reasons why we got a delay in delivery. The boat has already left and now we will receive our stock of flour on Wednesday next week (March 16),” explained CEO Bistoquet.
Another issue causing a shortage of flour on the local market is the storage area currently used by STC is not in good condition and with rain, some packets of flour had to be thrown away.
“STC is looking into building a new storage not only for flour but also for vegetables and meat and this will take about 18 months to complete,” she said.
After many people asked why we did not have this problem during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms Bistoquet answered: “During the pandemic the country was closed but now the country is open and demand has increased considerably. Also other importers have stopped importing commodities like flour, some vegetables and even oil. Everyone is relying on STC products, thus increasing our imports. There is no issue with flour in Seychelles as we know that many private businesses have them in store.”
Asked what the consumption of flour pre-Covid was, Ms Bistoquet shared that “STC usually sells 10 tonnes of flour per day, totalling 60 tonnes per week. Now in one day we are selling 32 tonnes. On Monday we had 130 tonnes in our stock and today (Thursday) we have only 20 tonnes left. In the past, we never had this precedence. With this situation, individuals and small businesses suffer. Now on Wednesday we will receive our consignment from Mauritius and Sri Lanka and there will be more than enough flour on the market.”
Ms Bistoquet added that STC is looking at additional facilities to store the products once they reach port. She has also called on the people not to create panic in the community when they observe something, but rather contact STC which will explain the situation to them.
“We are asking the population to bear with us. We are doing our best to bring home the necessary items even by airfreight. We have to understand that worldwide there is a problem with shipment. We have to start thinking more of airfreights as shipment is getting more expensive,” added Ms Bistoquet.
Regarding the stock of oil, Ms Bistoquet said we do have enough oil but mentioned that STC is already looking at other markets for oil supply in the future.
“The population is advised to act reasonably and also to bear in mind that STC is absorbing a lot of the costs. We should not abuse the system and definitely this format will have to be relooked at in order for STC to remain sustainable,” added Ms Bistoquet.
Vidya Gappy