Drought aid oil given the all clear, says supplier

A COMPANY supplying cooking oil for the national drought relief programme has defended the quality of its product after suspicions about its unusual colour were raised by distribution officials at Katima Mulilo.

In December, the Emergency Management Unit (EMU) was asked to look into the matter when consignments of dark brown cooking oil, supplied by Savannah Enterprises, arrived at the regional warehouse. Normally fresh vegetable oil is light gold in colour and turns darker after it has been heated and used.After investigating the matter, the Regional Emergency Management Unit at Katima Mulilo began distributing the oil supplied by Savannah Enterprises two weeks ago.It says so far it has received no complaints from beneficiaries.The oil is produced and bottled by a company in Swellendam in the Western Cape.According to a certificate of analysis given to The Namibian by the Managing Director of Savannah, Ahmed Omar, the product is free of toxic ingredients.Omar said the colour of the product was no cause for concern: he said his product’s main ingredient was canola oil which was superior to other products.Omar claims companies who are unable to meet the demands of the drought aid programme are trying to slate his product.Savannah Enterprises is expected to deliver about 653 tonnes of oil to the Caprivi, Kavango, Oshana, Oshikoto and Omusati regions.Deputy Director of the Emergency Management Unit, Gabriel Kangowa, said it had taken issue with the company on the quality of its product, saying samples it provided to Government during the tender process did not look the same as the consignments delivered.The EMU requests samples of all products to be supplied as drought aid to check its quality.Kangowa said the EMU had been assured that the oil was safe.In the absence of complaints from beneficiaries, they would continue to distribute the supplies.However, he told The Namibian that the programme would no longer be supplied with more of this oil as Savannah Enterprises was now procuring oil from elsewhere, citing cost implications as the reason.Just recently the quality of maize meal delivered to Omusati was found to be unsatisfactory.After requests by the EMU that it be tested by health inspectors, it was found that it had to be refined more.Kangowa said millers supplying the region with maize had agreed to improve the standard of their product.Initially five companies were awarded contracts for the supply of 2 752,5 metric tonnes of vegetable oil to the 13 regions.But this was subsequently reduced to four after one company could not meet the demand.Companies which tender for the supply of oil obtain their supplies mostly from South Africa.Only one Namibian company, which is based at Walvis Bay, bottles oil imported from South Africa and South America but they do not supply oil for the drought aid programme.Kangowa said the company had been considered in the past but had proved to be “too expensive”.”We want to empower local businesses.We expect them to do a good job in the sense that they are doing it for their own people.”said Kangowa.”They must see themselves as partners.The thing of money is there.But what should come first is service.Their primary responsibility is to save the lives of our people.”Companies which have tendered for the supply of aid have approached the EMU in recent weeks saying they were finding it difficult to meet their tender obligations.They claim the price of cooking oil has escalated dramatically since they were awarded the tender last year.Omar says his company tendered at a price of N$54 per case of 12 bottles of oil (N$4.5 per bottle), but these prices had since gone up by 20 per cent.But even at these prices, companies are supplying oil to the drought relief programme at less than the average cost price retailers pay, raising suspicion among the retail industry about the quality of oil supplied.The current cost price for a bottle of vegetable oil is about N$6.Vegetable and sunflower oil sells at between N$7 and N$9 for a 750ml bottle, while canola oil retails at almost N$12.Sources in the industry told The Namibian that they knew of business people who were selling used oil, procured from large industries in South Africa, at informal markets in northern Namibia and in Angola for much less than it can be bought from shops.But Kangowa said all suppliers of oil for the drought programme had shown their products to be of an acceptable quality and standard to feed a third of the country’s population who are registered to receive food aid.Normally fresh vegetable oil is light gold in colour and turns darker after it has been heated and used.After investigating the matter, the Regional Emergency Management Unit at Katima Mulilo began distributing the oil supplied by Savannah Enterprises two weeks ago.It says so far it has received no complaints from beneficiaries.The oil is produced and bottled by a company in Swellendam in the Western Cape.According to a certificate of analysis given to The Namibian by the Managing Director of Savannah, Ahmed Omar, the product is free of toxic ingredients.Omar said the colour of the product was no cause for concern: he said his product’s main ingredient was canola oil which was superior to other products.Omar claims companies who are unable to meet the demands of the drought aid programme are trying to slate his product.Savannah Enterprises is expected to deliver about 653 tonnes of oil to the Caprivi, Kavango, Oshana, Oshikoto and Omusati regions.Deputy Director of the Emergency Management Unit, Gabriel Kangowa, said it had taken issue with the company on the quality of its product, saying samples it provided to Government during the tender process did not look the same as the consignments delivered.The EMU requests samples of all products to be supplied as drought aid to check its quality.Kangowa said the EMU had been assured that the oil was safe.In the absence of complaints from beneficiaries, they would continue to distribute the supplies.However, he told The Namibian that the programme would no longer be supplied with more of this oil as Savannah Enterprises was now procuring oil from elsewhere, citing cost implications as the reason.Just recently the quality of maize meal delivered to Omusati was found to be unsatisfactory.After requests by the EMU that it be tested by health inspectors, it was found that it had to be refined more.Kangowa said millers supplying the region with maize had agreed to improve the standard of their product.Initially five companies were awarded contracts for the supply of 2 752,5 metric tonnes of vegetable oil to the 13 regions.But this was subsequently reduced to four after one company could not meet the demand.Companies which tender for the supply of oil obtain their supplies mostly from South Africa.Only one Namibian company, which is based at Walvis Bay, bottles oil imported from South Africa and South America but they do not supply oil for the drought aid programme.Kangowa said the company had been considered in the past but had proved to be “too expensive”.”We want to empower local businesses.We expect them to do a good job in the sense that they are doing it for their own people.”said Kangowa.”They must see themselves as partners.The thing of money is there.But what should come first is service.Their primary responsibility is to save the lives of our people.”Companies which have tendered for the supply of aid have approached the EMU in recent weeks saying they were finding it difficult to meet their tender obligations.They claim the price of cooking oil has escalated dramatically since they were awarded the tender last year.Omar says his company tendered at a price of N$54 per case of 12 bottles of oil (N$4.5 per bottle), but these prices had since gone up by 20 per cent.But even at these prices, companies are supplying oil to the drought relief programme at less than the average cost price retailers pay, raising suspicion among the retail industry about the quality of oil supplied.The current cost price for a bottle of vegetable oil is about N$6.Vegetable and sunflower oil sells at between N$7 an
d N$9 for a 750ml bottle, while canola oil retails at almost N$12.Sources in the industry told The Namibian that they knew of business people who were selling used oil, procured from large industries in South Africa, at informal markets in northern Namibia and in Angola for much less than it can be bought from shops.But Kangowa said all suppliers of oil for the drought programme had shown their products to be of an acceptable quality and standard to feed a third of the country’s population who are registered to receive food aid.