21 Nov 2012

Shortage of rice, other basic goods on CNMI's Rota

5:04 am on 21 November 2012

The island of Rota in the Northern Marianas is close to running out of rice and other basic commodities.

Businesses and officials on the island told the Saipan Tribune yesterday a barge that has been supplying containers of consumer goods could not enter the port to discharge cargo because of rough waters.

The last shipment of goods to Rota was last month.

Some Rota shops that have to bring in goods via air freight are forced to charge a lot more than the regular price for rice because of added transportation costs.