Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. – Due to the increase in the price of plantain, consumers claim they have had to opt for other options in order to feed themselves.
“I buy something that is not banana, I buy my flour and make my dumplings and I figure it out,” said a woman consulted by a local news program.
Another citizen called the current price for the consumer an abuse.
“Repeating meals or eating bread because there’s no other way. This is exploitation, an abuse,” said the woman.
Meanwhile, sellers from different markets in the National District, say that prices range between 25 and 30 pesos, and that the well-known mashed plantains would have stopped being an option on the Dominican table.
“The bunches of bananas are not used anymore. A plantain costs 25 and even 30 pesos in the same market,” said a merchant. “Mashed plantains are not used anymore, plantain are 30.
Tell me, 30 pesos for a plantain, what family is having dinner with bananas now,” said another seller.
On the other hand, the Executive Director of the National Institute of Consumer Protection (Pro Consumidor), Eddy Alcántara, visited the market in the Villas Agrícolas sector and informed that he will continue to verify the price of plantain to determine the cause of the increase.
“We will verify the banana issue to see if within the distribution chain there is any speculation in order to increase it or if we actually have to speed up the issue of production,” specified Alcántara.
It is worth mentioning that in recent days the Minister of Agriculture, Limber Cruz, justified that the increase in the price of bananas is due to the increase in low temperatures among other effects of nature.
