Stabroek News on Wednesday spoke to members of the public at Vreed-en-Hoop generally about the rising cost of living and how it is affecting them. Their comments follow:
Urmilla Ramlall
Urmilla Ramlall: ‘The cost of living right now is very high. The past couple of days everything has been rising, especially groceries. Right now I’m working to survive. I can’t get any luxury time to go out, and have fun because I’m not working for enough money that could allow me to have that luxury, since the cost of living is high right now. I don’t know who can help and what the government can do to change it, maybe if prices for items could be a little bit lower and salary a little bit higher…one of the two will do, so everyone can have a stable life where people can have time to work, study, and time to spend with family while the cost of living is affordable to them. For instance, I noticed for the past couple of weeks milk carries a different price in the market. First the regular milk used to be $480 a lb, $560 a lb…now it is sold for $680 a lb. And that’s just the regular milk not the Fernleaf milk. It has other milk that is expensive, I just go with what I can afford. The government should do something to help people who have a basic work with low salary at least to buy groceries, and not only to work alone but to enjoy life as well.’
Mukesh Gaya
Mukesh Gaya: ‘The salary is lower than the cost of living. The government should raise the civil servants salary. They are taking too long to pay them, you have to wait two months to get a month’s salary. I will like the government to look into this because this is hard on the people. For instance, every time a person purchase a month’s groceries, the person has to wait until two months after to get another salary, this will result in the person owing the shop. Also, the cost of items such as: milk, drinks, vermicelli, cooking oil; etc, have increased. For the past few months, the package milk that sells for a lb was four something, then it rise to six something…now it’s eight something.’
Diaina Chunilall
Diaina Chunilall: ‘The prices for cooking oil is up right now. Also, you have sugar, flour and milk. For instance, the Hi and Low package milk for the past few months was like $800 a lb, now it’s like $10 something a lb. The cost of living is high, the government should work on carrying the prices for commodities down because the prices are high. Workers’ salaries are not increasing, they don’t receive anything much in the estate they are working. I depend on my husband for money who works at the estate, and we cannot afford anything much but we are trying to survive.’
Karran Seeram
Karran Seeram, tailor: ‘Everything rising in the market such as the groceries. If you decide to do a business, you can’t buy things to do a business because everything raise. For instance, chicken price last month was $320 a lb, now it’s $580 a lb. Everything gone up in the market…yesterday I bought 2 little bundles of bora for $200, a few months ago bora was sold for $200 for 3 bundles. If the government raise their prices for everything, they should raise the people’s salary, so they can survive because we can’t survive without the government raising the salary in a tangible way…not in a skimpy, skimpy way, in a tangible way.’
Selwyn Desouza
Selwyn Desouza, shoemaker: ’Being a pensioner, the money hasn’t raise and things are costing more. It tough on me because I have people to take care of. For instance, I have my brother to take care of, so it is tough on me. Every day when I go to the market, sometimes I would pay one price for an item and the next day, another price for items at the market…like flour, sugar, potatoes. A week ago, I bought the ‘Blue Band’ margarine for $500, when I went back to purchase it, it’s now $700. The government should try to control the price of the items more as to keep the prices for commodities at a certain level.’
Debbie Mulchand
Debbie Mulchand: ‘The cost of living is very high. For instance, the mothers that have babies, the Natura milk for the past few months was about $380 for a package, now milk rise to $700 a pack. Also, before, a poor person could have buy a half pound milk, now people can’t get that. Things rise a lot in the market, look at the cooking oil…for the past few months, a big bottle oil was $2300, now it’s $5000 and something dollars. Also, sugar gone up, we are growing sugar in Guyana and its high. Sugar before was $320 for the medium pack, now we are paying $780 for the medium pack. The government should reduce the economy in such a way that items can be affordable to Guyanese because as how it is, the cost of living is very hard for people. Before I have never went through this, what we are going through now. Also, I’m a vendor, the government should give vendors a cash grant too. They give to the fishermen, but they too should give to us because we have priorities for certain things too. Things are very hard, we sell perishable things. Somedays business rough, we have to throw away things…now you can’t go to the market with $50,000 to buy load, if you don’t have a $100,000 and something dollars, you can’t buy load to sell back. Another thing is we as vendors are earning our daily bread. The government said that I have to move the table that I put outside my stall to sell things, in order to shift down. Vendors can’t shift down their stand anymore because we don’t have space at the back. The government should take into consideration that water bill raise, electricity bill raise, etc…they have to take these things into consideration before they try to move us down.’
Marlyn Bailey
Marlyn Bailey: ‘Prices going up every day, cost of living is very hard, especially when you are a single parent, and you have to find food to send the kids to school. As a grandmother who’s taking care of my grandchildren, I have to find snacks for the ones going to nursery and primary school. The prices of things are very, very high. I think that the government should try to control the prices of some items…because look at the price of oil and all these things, things are very expensive. Things are very hard right now. For instance, the past few months, the medium cooking oil was sold at $300 a bottle, then it went to $360 a bottle, now some people sell oil for about $800 a bottle. Even the sugar high, I used to buy sugar for $100 and something dollars for 2 lbs, now sugar is $200 and $250 a pound. The government should bring the price for sugar down because sugar price hiked up high, and I won’t afford it to make porridge for my grandchildren. Also, right now the stall is the only source that I get my income from, and I had to move my table from the front of my stall, requested by the government. If the government ask us to pay something every week, we as vendors can do that but don’t harass us…because if they take us up from here, what are we going to do? This is the only source of income right now, what are we going to eat?’
Christina Bishnath
Christina Bishnath: ‘Cost of living has been very high for the past couple of months because everything raising, every time I go to the shop. For instance, egg price gone up now to about $2000 a tray, before it was $1200, $1300 for a tray…when Christmas comes, egg prices will be more expensive since everything keep raising all the time. When you have a business, you can’t buy that to sell because people will complain about the prices being high all the time. The government should look into these prices because things keeps raising in the market. I can’t even afford to mine a chicken. The government should lower the cost of living, and raise people’s salary, especially government workers, because Guyana is a high rising country right now since it’s producing plenty oil, and things are expensive.’
Petal Simon
Petal Simon: ’The Scott toilet paper increased causing me not being able to afford it, now I have to switch to something else, and the other types that are selling are not good. The past few months I used to buy a bale of toilet paper for $2,400 of 24 toilet paper inside, now the supermarket has it for $3,200 for the same 24 toilet paper inside the bail. The government should raise public servant salary so we can get to live.’
Cema Seeraj
Cema Seeraj: ‘The cost of living has been affecting me because when I go to the supermarket every day, the prices for items have been increasing by $20, $40, $100 on everything. Items like what you used every day like pampers, milk… even toilet paper, House Proud, a few months back a bale cost $2,700 something dollars, now a bale of toilet paper is $3,700 and something dollars. Then I still have to come to work, send my kids to school and buy snacks and other things for my kids, plus my husband have to work, and I have to work just to provide. So yes the cost of living is affecting me tremendously and the government should do something about it. I know the government dropped the price for gas but still that can’t help us. Also, the government should lower the VAT on items too.’
Amanda Ellis
Amanda Ellis: ‘The cost of living is increasing. Well everyone knows that things that we used to pay a few months back, for instance, a 3 litre cooking oil cost about $1,200 before, now we are paying about $2,500 for the cooking oil. Yes cost of living increase and it’s affecting me because my transportation alone cost $20,000/$30,000 per month and then there’s no salary increase by the government. And when you go to the grocery store, everything increase. The government should raise the salary and drop the cost of certain things in the market.’
Sarah Ferrier
Sarah Ferrier: ‘Most obviously the prices of items increase in the market. And most obviously it will affect everybody because wages, and salary haven’t gone up for private sector and public sector but the cost of living gone up. So the cost of living will affect people, regardless if it’s a small household or large household, it will affect you. Whether the government give an increase in salary, the cost of living will still go up. In order for the government to cushion the cost of living, they should decrease the amount of income tax people are paying, so people will be able to take home more money. Also, the government should implement price control on the sellers and business persons. For instance, greens have gone up a lot, before say you were paying about $200 for 10 or 15 parcel of bora in a bundle, now you’re paying $200 for 3 or 4 parcel of bora in a bundle.’
Kowsilla Kissoon
Kowsilla Kissoon: ‘The government should come and check the vendors out because by shifting vendors more in the corner, it’s affecting us when selling seeing that the cost of living is high… where else we should go? I’m asking the government for a piece of the road to sell my fruits and provision because the cost of living is hard, and as vendors we have to try with it. That’s why I try to assist my household by selling to pay the bills. And the electricity bill, water bill and internet bill, all gone up. The government should raise both private and public sectors’ salary. We have to co-operate together so all of us can live. Cost of living has gone up on items in the market like – oranges, tangerine, papaw, boulanger; most thing gone up. The bora expensive because we bought a big bundle for $1000. I want the government step in here, and let us vendors get to sell because this will cost more crime, we are just helping our household, why are they coming to tell us we have to shift our stall in every time?
