Seller raises concerns on incurred losses

A food reseller has expressed concern on how to make claims on losses incurred when transporting his bags of kaukau to city markets.
Harry Komati of Dei Council in Western Highlands said: “We sacrifice so much of our money and time and the Government must help people like us when we lose bags during the transportation process.
“Why I say this is because in the process of purchasing kaukau or other food, we are paying for labour costs, transportation fees and shipment fees. It starts in Mt Hagen, to Lae and then to Motukea wharf before the bags arrive at Gerehu market.
“We are creating employment for youths and creating business and we are paying for all this out of our own pockets.
“The trucking companies and shipping agencies that carry our cargoes don’t have any system in place where they cover damage to goods. So when food is damaged we make big losses.
“We are supporting the economy by buying from local farmers in Western Highlands and from Mt Hagen to Lae and then to Port Moresby. All the fees along this chain vary so in a week we are spending a lot of money to get a shipment of 200 bags of kaukau to the markets.
In a week, Komati purchases 200 kaukau bags from a village seller in Dei at K40 each. He factors in cost for packing and sewing at K6 per bag and a fee of K3 per to be transported to the main road. There is a person in Mt Hagen that does the administration work and he is paid K300 a week.
The container cost is K10 per bag to be loaded to the ship including a K100 transport fee. Bag carriers in Lae charge at K4 (K2 each way) for unloading and loading to container, the cost for one container is K3,250 for a dry container so the total is at K6,150.
At Motukea wharf in Port Moresby, bag carriers charge a fee of K2 to get the bags onto a truck and the driver charges K5 per bag to transport the bags to Gerehu market. The carriers charge a fee of K2.50 to get the bags into the market and the Gerehu market charges K3 per bag. The total is K2,500.
“So every Friday I collect my bags from the wharf and in total, I spend over K18,000 per week and this is from my own hard earned money.”
“So far I have made three losses but I still get up and continue because if I stop the process, it will affect a whole chain of people along the line who depend on the small work they do to survive.
“My only concern is how the Government can assist people like us who are supporting the local economy. But when we experience losses how can we claim or get back part of what we lost in the process of transporting the food to the city markets?” he said.