Consider Struggling Consumers Too!

The current hide and seek game being played by government and dealers in cement in the country is increasingly becoming too much for struggling consumers to bear. That a bag of 50 kg cement that is usually sold in the neighbourhood of FCFA 5,000 is now almost hitting FCFA 10,000 in some cities in the country is a serious cause for concern. 
While some dealers hide behind the hike in prices of almost everything in the market and others fabricating artificial scarcity of the produce to up the prices, government has the challenge to come to the rescue of especially struggling consumers. The foundation of every economy remains its infrastructure, both public and private. People need houses to live in, schools and other public and private institutions need structures to house their services. Needless talking about roads which we all know beget any meaningful development. Once the cost of the infrastructure development becomes excessively high owing to the cost of building materials, the population is bound to suffer. Citizens keep struggling to make ends meet and it would be hurtful allowing them to again bear the high cost of building materials which could have been controlled if stakeholders were sincere. It is common knowledge that acquiring a piece of land in the country is a daunting task. Succeeding to have one only to be blocked by uncontrollable hike in the prices of building materials like is the case at moment is frustrating. 
Many Cameroonians are still to understand how cement could be sold in a neighbouring country at almost half the price of a bag here. Government seems to have held tight to what senior State functionaries call “homologated prices” even if the ceiling prices are seen to be flouted with near impunity. It is difficult to understand how cement which was sold at the ceiling FCFA 5,000 when the country had a sole producer would continue at that price and even far higher with several companies involved. How could an outfit that produces and sells the same cement in a neighbouring country do same in Cameroon at almost double the price? Competition among the cement producers would have played in the favour of consu...