Editorial – Profiteering by cement traders

CONSUMERS should be heartened by the announcement of the Department of Trade and Industry that it was preparing profiteering charges against traders and companies  in the cement business.
The DTI made the announcement after department investigators have gathered evidence that cement industry players have overpriced their product.
DTI Sec. Peter Favila stopped short of naming the suspects but said that the charges will not be confined to retailers and distributors, but would also include manufacturers themselves.
Favila claimed that DTI operatives had conducted surprise market inspections to determine why prices of cement were skyrocketing despite the normal supply situation. The DTI also saw to it that manufacturers submitted documents indicating their pricing and deliveries to distributors and retailers, who were later subjected to spot checks for comparison.
To many people, DTI’s announcement is really no cause for consumer euphoria. The wheels of justice in this country grind so slowly, it is doubtful if the DTI can send an erring cement industry player to jail before July when a new administration takes over.
The best that consumers can hope for in DTI’s threat to press charges against  suspected profiteers is for the prices of cement to stabilize.
Indeed, profiteering seems common  among  unscrupulous traders in this country, but we still have to hear or read about profiteers being jailed for their nefarious practices.