Why Kogi imposed levy on every loaf of bread —Commissioner

Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, has said the government imposed levy on every loaf of bread sold in the state in order to protect indigenous bakers from those “who bring bread to the state without paying any form of levy”.

Fanwo made this known in a statement he signed on Friday titled, ‘The Facts About The Bakery Levies’.

The state chapter of the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria had said it received a memo from the state’s ministry of commerce imposing a levy  “on each loaf of bread”. AMBCN had said the move would bring unbearable pains on its members.

Reacting on Friday, Fanwo said, “The recent letter was one of our strategies at protecting our Indigenous bakers and also protect our economy from the activities of bakers outside the State who bring their bread to the State without paying any form of levy.

“No responsible government will sit by and watch her indigenous businesses lose the local market. Our indigenous bakers have complained bitterly about the activities of external bakers who packed their bread to the state in trucks and sell without paying anything to the state government.

“Poor sales by our bakers may lead to job losses, a situation we are determined to use legitimate means to avert.

“We assure the Master Bakers of our open-door policy and our readiness to keep listening to them in order to smoothen relationships and factors aiding their production as bread consumers have nothing to fear.”

THE PUNCH