Commerce Penalizes Businesses For Profiteering

Five local businesses including filling stations and a supermarket have been fined  by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for allegedly violating the general business law of Liberia.

Addressing a press conference Wednesday, the Deputy Commerce Minister for Public Affairs Rufus D. Neufville disclosed that the businesses in question have been fined for making  false declarations and profiteering.

Mr. Neufville named the businesses as the Super Petroleum in Jallah Town, the International Gas station in Buzzy Quarters and the Liberia Petroleum filling station also located in Buzzy Quarters. He named the other violators as the Monoprix Supermarket on Benson Street, Monrovia and the Missra Business Center located at Red Light in Paynesville, outside Monrovia.

According to Mr. Neufville, the five businesses have been fined US$1,000 each and that one of the businesses has paid the fine into government revenue.

He revealed that one of the penalized businesses, the Missra Business Center which was charged for under declaration of goods has already paid its fine into government coffers, while the other four have not  yet paid the fines levied on them.

Minister Neufville who admonished the public to assist Commerce Inspectors in exposing unscrupulous business entities, explained that the Monoprix Supermarket was booked for profiteering, while the three petroleum filling stations were cheating the public by selling gas below the standardized one US gallon.

“Out of every 1000 gallons sold to the public, the gas stations were saving 125 gallons for themselves because the gallon being used was less than the approved US gallon.” Mr. Neufville noted.

A statement from the office of the Assistant Minister for Commerce and Trade, Steve Marvie, indicated that the filing stations were in violation of Chapter 1 section 1.0 of the General business Law of Liberia which states that no person shall sell or offer for sale any false weighing  and measurement  or knowingly have in his possession any device for the purpose of determining the quantity of commodity or article being sold.

The Ministry has at the same time released its official ‘hotline numbers’ and urged the public to make use of the lines to complain unscrupulous business people for prompt redress. The numbers are: 0880702865; 0777605075; 05595372; and 0994824510

In a related development, the ministry has clarified that contrary to media reports concerning  the complicity of its personnel with an assortment of rotten fish product in Gardnersville, the information is a falsehood intended to besmear the  image of Commerce Inspectors and Assistant Minister Marvie.

Commerce authorities told journalists that the small quantity of rotten items from a Supermarket in Gardnersville that included chicken, fish, spare ribs, chicken-wings and pig feet were dumped on the Bomi Highway last week in the presence of representatives of the Commerce and Justice Ministries in the presence of two independent local journalists and other stakeholders.