The National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental is borrowing 10,000 bags of rice from Iloilo while waiting for the arrival of its own imported rice allocation next week.

NFA-Negros Occidental provincial manager Frisco Canoy said an initial 2,000 bags of rice from Iloilo delivered by four trucks arrived in Negros Occidental yesterday.

The NFA-Iloilo has been authorized by the central office to transfer stocks to other provinces in Western Visayas, he said.

“We are assuring the public that we will still have our own imported allocation. The lesser volume of supply coming from Iloilo is just temporary,” Canoy said.

He added that the NFA central office has notified Negros Occidental that a vessel from Thailand carrying 80,000 bags of rice will arrive in the province on July 8.

“Most likely, the 10,000 bags will not be fully dispersed before the scheduled arrival of our importation on Sunday,” he said.

The arrival of the rice allocation for Negros Occidental has been tentatively set on June 10, but it has been delayed mainly due to loading problems brought about by bad weather.

The 80,000 bags allocated for Iloilo Province arrived the other week.

Canoy said that for the meantime, the NFA has decided to disperse a portion of Iloilo’s rice stocks.

“The government wants that everybody, especially the poor families in the region, can simultaneously avail of cheaper rice,” he said.

Canoy said the rice stocks from Iloilo will be distributed to the NFA rice retailers in the province.

The first dispersal of 2,000 bags will be divided among the warehouses in the cities of Bacolod and San Carlos, and Ilog town.

Canoy added that today, Negrense consumers can already expect the presence of P27 per kilogram of NFA rice in the markets. (PNA)