The commercial authority at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI) is to launch a campaign soon to make people aware of measures designed to fight the rising cost of food. “We were surprised to note that the prices of food and other commodities – especially vegetables – have increased tremendously only a few days before the holy month of Ramadan,” said Khadijah Qashqri, a member of the commercial authority at JCCI. There is no reason for such an increase in prices, she said. “At the beginning of this year the increase in the price of rice, meat and flour was genuine for many reasons including the steep hike in the price in petroleum products,” she said. But the high price of vegetables that are produced in the Kingdom or are imported from other Arab countries is unacceptable,” said Qashqri. She said the aim behind this campaign is to make citizens aware by teaching them how to distinguish between real and fake goods. “Unfortunately, we cannot do anything when it comes to the import of vegetables due to factors in international markets and the fall of the dollar against other currencies. So the only solution that we have is to help citizens to manage their salaries accordingly,” said Qashqri. Meanwhile, Ahmad Al-Jamal, Public Relations Manager in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said the Ministry has nothing to do with the rise in the price of vegetables. According to vegetable sellers in Jeddah, prices increased only two days before Ramadan. Tomatoes and potatoes are priced at SR18 per carton as against SR7 before Ramadan, and eggplants are being sold at SR30 per carton instead of SR12. __
