Interviews and photos by Subhana Shiwmangal
Stabroek News recently spoke to residents on the West Bank of Demerara at Stanleytown, Wales and Good Intent about the rising cost of living and how it is affecting them. Their comments follow:
Wavan Chan
Wavan Chan: ‘ The cost of living gone up because for the past few months, I paid $4500 for a 5 gallon bottle of oil, now it is $12,000…before a big bag rice was about $5,600, now it is like $7,800. And every other else thing; every, every, everything gone up in the market because I’m getting a small bundle of bora now for $100…and that is hard for small people like me. I think the oil money that the Government is getting, they should do something for everyone because when the storm comes all of us have to take it. So the Government should not sit there, enjoy it and have we suffering. Whatever they can do to lower the rising cost of living, they should do…Another thing the Government should do is to look into the private sector because number one, some employers are not paying no NIS and it needs to be dealt with properly, go down deeper …because the private sector especially, robbing the workers, particularly the payments and the findings.’
Terry Smith
Terry Smith : ‘ The cost of living is affecting me because when I buy a small amount of groceries for me and my family, the bill comes up now to $9000 and something…and that’s not enough to support me and my family. For instance, a small pack of Natura milk a few months ago was $200 and something, now the same milk is sold for $700 a pack. Also, a small pack of self-rising flour used to sell for $360, now it cost $500 a pack. The Government should bring down the prices for food items, lower or place control prices on food items because other countries are doing it…I don’t work since I had a stroke in my right hand so I’m depending on the NIS from the government to mine me but that’s not enough since the cost of living is high.’
Tamera Sealey
Tamera Sealey: ‘In the community sometimes we manage the rising cost of living but sometimes we don’t because a few items have gone up in the market. For instance, the medium size oil cost $800 now and before that the same bottle was sold for $360… another item that is expensive on the market now is sugar…the cost of 4 lbs of sugar now is $700, before it was $400 for 4 lbs. The Government should see how they can help us out…the government should raise both public and private sector salary more and they can consider putting control prices on items in the market because the cost of living has gone up.
Sham Dyanand
Sham Dyanand: ‘The cost of living is high. I’m a sugarcane worker that works for $2500 a day with a family of seven and that money can’t make it to feed my family because the items are so expensive on the market. I have to get a second job, for instance, for the past few months ago a big bottle oil cost $4500, now it is $15,000 for the same bottle of oil…then the 4 kg bag of Karibee rice price now is $7000/$8000. I think the Government should put control prices on items so the cost of living can be affordable to everyone… and soon my son will have to start school in the next two weeks and the transportation to go from Wales to Vreed-en-Hoop is now $300…before it was $160 to go to Vreed-en-Hoop. So how I’m going to assist the children to go to Vreed-en-Hoop, seeing that my salary is like that and cost of living is high? I’m still good because I have a job, some people without a job…how are they going to send their children to school seeing that the cost of living is high?’
Nandkumar Shivsankar
Nandkumar Shivsankar : ‘Since the pandemic, there has been a steep rise in prices and even though the Government is offering 8 % increase on public servant’s salary now, it is not comparable to bring you back to economic recovery…During the pandemic, because of the shortage of food items, the prices went up. After the pandemic, the government changed and things were circulating and I have expected prices would’ve fall but there was no fall in prices in the market. Then you have the rise in prices of oil globally that cause transportation to go up as well as fuel prices… the cost of transportation and production in Guyana is very high as a result of the cost of raw materials rising…prices rising all the time. For instances, three years ago, you could purchase a 5 gallon bottle oil for about $5000/$6000, now it’s almost double that amount, it is $12,000 for the same bottle now…and a few months ago it was sold for $8000…then there is sugar, before the rise in gasoline prices, a pound of sugar was $80/$120, now sugar gone to $280-lb. When gasoline prices fell there was no reduction in prices, not on transportation and food items, instead the prices are doubling and rising all the time in the country. The Government of Guyana is saying people are having a comfortable life but that’s not so because economically people are finding a lot of constraint to make ends meets. So, as the cost of living rise people are hardly finding money to do repairs and extra work in their homes as the money they have, go towards survival. As an economist and former teacher and umpire, the Government should stop increasing wages…reason being, the cost of items at the wage increase given, doesn’t match the inflation, the inflation is high and people at the bottom are the one who are suffering, not the people at the top…instead the Government can have a wage freeze and the increase that they are adding on to people’s salary’s every month, the Government can subsidize the cost of basic items…bring down the electricity cost, water and transportation cost and that will aid in the fall in food items, so people will work for the same money but it will cover a full amount.’
Seykallie Singh
Seykallie Singh: ‘Items gone up really high in the market. For instance, a roll of toilet paper, House Proud a few months ago was $85 and $90, now the cost is $ 170 and $180 for a House Proud…simple things like soap, I use to pay $140 for one Protex soap, now it is $180..some places $200…This is really bad because the salary that I work for can’t cover half of my grocery bill for the month…and as a security guard and single parent, it is really hard since out of my month’s salary I have to take transportation out, things really hard. The Government need to look into private sector salary because I’m working at Elite and my minimum wage suppose to raise but it hasn’t. It is still at $55,000. Sometimes they pay NIS and sometime they do not…also, they do not give bonus, no leave, I use to work a second job but I no longer do. So the cost of living is really high.’
Chad Doodnauth
Chad Doodnauth: ‘The cost of living is not affecting me because I live with my parents but in general it’s affecting people since they can’t afford much and prices are rising in the market and there is hardly jobs out there for people…maybe because it’s Christmas the prices rise so high, I don’t know. For instance, a pack of Natura milk now is $600 something or $700 and something…few months back, the same pack was like $500 and something. I think the Government should create more jobs, like open more businesses for the people so the cost of living can be affordable to everyone.’
Winston Layne
Winston Layne: ‘Everything gone sky high in the market. When you go to the shop, everything high. A big bucket of butter now is $8000, few months ago it was $5000 and something… and when I purchase a box of package sausages, the cost is $7000, before it was $5000 and something. The rising cost of living is not affecting me much but generally everyone in the country because they are spending more than they should. The Government should do something with the rising cost of living in the country…they could put control prices on food items.’
Diane Harris
Diane Harris: ‘The raise in pay that the Government gave to the workers is not enough because items have gotten more expensive in the shop. For instance, a pound of sugar now is $160, few months ago it was $80 a lb…a small pack of Fernleaf milk now cost $1,200 and some places $1,100…before the same small pack was sold for $700 and something. I think the Government should place control prices on food items in the market.’
Dennis Lalbeharri
Dennis Lalbeharri: ‘The cost of living has gone up. Everything is really expensive on the market…Provisions gone up, eschallot gone up, even sweet peppers…celery all gone up. A pound of celery now is $3000…few months ago, a pound of potatoes were $80 and $100 , now a lb is $120…look at the price for a medium bottle oil now, it cost $760…before it was $400 for that same bottle. I put in for public assistance two years now because I lost all my toes in harvesting cane…the government hasn’t give me that as yet and the rising cost of living is really affecting me. In Good Intent, I’m not getting proper work because of my toes. I’m calling on the Government for help because everything gone up and when I plant crops in my kitchen garden, I’m getting flood due to the heavy rainfall that causes the crops to die. I really need help from the Government… I think the Government should put control prices on the food items in the market…the cost of living is really high.’
Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson: ‘Everyone in my house is vegetarian and when I go to the market, everything has gone up in the market. I can’t say I’m going to plant vegetables in my yard because in Wales when the rain falls, my yard floods…on top of that this is not healthy because it’s the whole trench water coming back in the yard. To buy 3 lbs ochros now, I have to walk with a whole thousand dollar to do get that…I’m paying $200 for one big carrot when that same big carrot, I used to pay a $100 for it, a few months ago…look at celery, 3 celery I’m buying now for $200, before I would get mixed seasoning (celery and eschallot) for $100… even sugar expensive, a big pack of the Demerara Gold sugar is $800 now. My mother works from home to provide for my family but because of the heavy rain, I can’t do my mason work. The government should do something about the drainage in the area and the exploitation of the prices for greens in the market…also, the government need to raise both public and private sectors salary…because the minimum wage that the Government providing to the people isn’t doing anything since the cost of living is high.’
Prince Jaffasan
Prince Jaffasan: ‘Everything gone up in the market. My boss close down his construction business since he was getting money problem as a result of the government not giving the amount of money he asked for…so he didn’t get a certain amount of money to proceed with working and paying his staff. I can’t even buy a tub of butter because I’m not getting any construction work because of the heavy rainfall. Another thing too, the construction work that I used to do for a day, I would receive $2000, $3000 but the Spanish people are getting the work instead and are paid at a cheaper rate than us, leaving us at a disadvantage. When we are not getting work, how are we going to mind our children? The cost of living is really high. For instance, a few months ago a gallon of rice was $400 and something, now it is $700 and something…before a big pack of sugar was $700 and something, now it is $400 and something. I think the rise in salary would not help the rising cost of living, instead the government should create more jobs for the people, especially in Wales…they should create more institution, more factory…look at the sugar estate they have closed down in Wales …when that was open, every week sugar workers was getting money…now we have to study transportation cost, sometimes I would have to travel far, East Bank of Demerara, for work. On Friday it’s like a ghost town here in Wales because people in here don’t have money to buy anything much…the Government should come house to house and help us by creating work for us…the majority of us don’t have CXC, so whatever job comes to us we have to grab it. The Government should look into this.’
