Rotten fish, chickens on sale

Huge consignment of decomposed imported frozen fish and chicken substances are being sold at the Paynesville Red Light General Market outside Monrovia by some Lebanese businessmen, who run frozen food companies.

Investigation conducted by The New Dawn indicates that the expired food products, which were previously sold between LRD2, 500 and LRD3,500 per cartoon, are now being secretly sold a reduced price of LRD800..

This paper also discovered that the contaminated frozen items are being taken to various parts of Monrovia and its environs by marketers and sold to interested buyers.
The presence of the rotten commodity at the Red Light General Market is causing serious health pollution in the environment densely overwhelmed by thousands of sellers and buyers.

There are also indications that the unhygienic poultry products are at the result of prolonged stay in defective cold storage at Red Light. Several business individuals, who spoke to this paper on anonymity said, government needs to immediately intervene to ensure that importers involved are arrested and prosecuted in line with guidelines and regulations of both the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Environmental Protection Agency.

They said frozen food companies such as Fresh Frozen Food (FFF), Caroline Frozen Food (CFD), Africa No. 1, Cold Storage, and West Africa Enterprise Inc., among others.
However, some importers contacted, could neither deny nor confirm importing rotten products, but pointed accusing fingers at some of their colleagues, whom they claimed are in the constant habit of selling expired goods.

The contaminated fish and chickens are contained in outsized blue sugar bags and reportedly sold under the cover of darkness to buyers. When the Ministry of Commerce was contacted on Monday, this paper was informed that the ministry’s chief spokesperson was out on official matter.

By Emmanuel Mondaye-Editing by Jonathan Browne