AROUND 140,000 sacks or 7,500 metric tons of imported rice arrived in Cebu from Vietnam last Thursday.

But the vessel carrying the cargo, BMC Alpha, cannot dock yet in the Cebu International Port due to congestion problems, said Olma Marie Bayno, public information officer of the National Food Authority (NFA) 7.

Bayno told SunStar Cebu that the vessel was the second one to arrive this month that carried rice the National Government has imported from Vietnam. Last Sunday, 200,000 bags of imported rice were also delivered from Vietnam to Cebu.

Bayno said that while the BMC Alpha has yet to dock since their discharging papers are still being processed, the unloading of 200,000 bags of imported rice that arrived last Sunday started yesterday.

After securing the discharging permit, NFA personnel immediately delivered the cargo to two of their warehouses in Pier 6. As of yesterday, around 8,500 bags of rice have been unloaded from the vessel, said Bayno.

The NFA 7 is awaiting delivery of a third and final rice cargo from Thailand. The cargo may arrive in Cebu before the end of July, Bayno added. (JKV)