The Organised Private Sector (OPS), yesterday urged the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chief Achike Udenwa to ascertain whether those granted concessionary licences to import cement actually utilised them or they traded them away for their selfish gains resulting in the current hike in the prices of the product in the country.

Udenwa had last week directed local manufacturers to bring down the price of the product in the country.

He said that the bulk of the licence granted for the importation of cement were granted to manufacturers to bridge the shortfall in the supply of the product and eventually bring down the price. However, he regretted that nothing has been done in this regard, leaving a large gap between demand and supply.