Coconut shelf commercialized here

Liberians appear to be venturing into a new income generating business, marketing coconut shelf for thousands of Liberian Dollars, depending on the quantity that is being sold.

This paper is informed that people are now buying coconut shelf and using them to dry fresh fish and imported chicken products, instead of wood. An investigation conducted by this paper in several market places here including in Redlight, Paynesville, Old Road and Duala General Markets respectively, reveal that more and more female marketers are venturing into the sale of coconut shelf.

This paper has gathered that dealers purchase a pick-up load of coconut shelf for the amount of LRD$45, 000.00; and a truck load for LRD$100, 000.00, depending on the distance the goods come from.

The NewDawn has also gathered that a wheelbarrow load of coconut shelf is being sold at LRD$1, 750.00 to customers interested in the shelf.There are many private – owned coconut farms across Liberia and few coconut trees planted in many communities here, but coconut shelf have not been noticed to be used for any essential commercial purpose here until this latest discovery among marketers.

Much of what has been known here over the years is the selling of coconuts in markets simply to eat the product or use it for other purposes, while the shelf have always been trashed.

According to Ms. Marthaline Sando, a 45 – year – old marketer at the Redlight Market in Paynesville, she is one of the marketers that started selling coconut shelf for several years now.

Ms. Sando told our reporter how she and others that are engaged in selling coconut shelf purchase a pick-up load of the product for LRD$45, 000.00, and a truck load for LRD$100, 000.00, depending on the distance to be covered.

Ms. Sando explains that they send their money to their business partners in Grand Bassa, River Cess, Grand Cape Mount, Bong, Maryland, Grand Kru and Sinoe Counties to purchase coconut shelf.

She says once purchased in those counties, they are the coconut shelf are then transported to Monrovia for further business purposes. Another dealer of coconut shelf at the Old Road General Market Ms. Theresa James Stephen says coconut shelf business is a good venture.

She notes that since she started selling the commodity at the market, she has seen it to be economically viable.She discloses that she sells a wheelbarrow load of coconut nut shelf at the market for the sum of LRD$1, 825.00 to customers.

According to her, most of these customers use these coconut shelf to dry fresh fish and frozen chicken products, noting that the coconut shelf is less expensive than wood.

Besides, Ms. Stephens observes that the coconut shelf burns slowly and produces reasonable smoke during the process of drying fish and chicken substance, compared to the use of wood for the same purpose.

Another dealer, Madam Cecelia Jackson on Bushrod Island says she was introduced to the coconut shelf business through one of her friends who started the transaction several years earlier.

Madam Jackson notes that in the Duala area, they sell the coconut shelf at the sum of LRD$1, 900.00 per load of wheelbarrow.According to her, business has been very encouraging since she started the selling coconut shelf.

By Emmanuel Mondaye–Edited by Winston W. Parley