Stabroek News on Wednesday spoke to members of the public in the areas of Albert Street; James Street and Carmichael Street all in Georgetown about the rising cost of living and how it is affecting them. Their comments follow:
Douglas Carston
Douglas Carston, 32, a fruits’ vendor: “The younger folks that are growing up poor in this town, the government at least could go door to door and support them in some way; the cost of living is high for the younger ones. By the government doing this, the young ones will know that they are getting something when the day comes and not to have them out there thieving, shooting people, taking away people’s money and stuff like that. The younger ones are feeling the rise in cost of living in the country. As a person that is accustom to poor life, I’m doing my normal business when the day comes despite the rise in cost of living. The items in the market is really high. For example, a few months ago oil was $560, $360 and $460 for a medium bottle, now the prices for the same bottle of oil is sometimes $860, $1,100, $1,400 a bottle. Now the small bottle of oil is $900. Things are very expensive especially for people who have to make things to sell back. The government should at least drop the oil price to how it was before, so people can fry their chicken foot, plantain chips to sell back. The food business in a whole is getting expensive. Vendors have to end up raising their prices more to accommodate the rise in prices in the market. Even I had to raise my mango price since the plastic bags and salt gone up. Currently, a pound of salt is sold for $400. Before, that same pound cost $100 and $160. Now everything rise up in the market. This is affecting a lot of people. It is not really affecting me much because I’m not that poor, poor but it is affecting the poorer ones. When the day comes, I’m enjoying the earnings from selling fruits because I’m eating and my family is eating, also.”
Winston Arthur
Winston Arthur, 45, a coconut vendor: “The rising cost of living has been affecting everyone very badly in everything down to food, material and so. When you check, before I used to pay $600 and something for a ⅜ steel, ½ inch steel used to be $700. Now the same ⅜-inch steel is sold for $900. The rise in these items affecting everyone because number one, you’re getting house lot but you getting the house lot to build…and the thing is, we don’t have the money to buy the materials. It is the same thing when we go to the market to buy greens. For instance, eggplants a few months ago cost $200 for 5, now the cost is $300 for 3; a piece of pumpkin now is $700. If you are a single parent with four children, how are you going to afford to buy three or five pieces of pumpkin? That means you will have to go back to grating coconuts to make cook up for the family because the cost of living gone to a different level, and there is nothing we can do about it. The government don’t have no control prices in this country. I don’t think the government is doing anything for the small people in this country since small people feeling the pressure in this country, tremendously. When you go down to certain places and see how small people feeling it, it is really tough. Before a small bottle of oil cost $360, when you go today and price the oil, it is $560 for the same bottle and when you go back the next day, the price for oil gone to $800 a small bottle. If you don’t have $2,000 or $2,200 you can’t purchase a 5-gallon bottle of oil. That’s how we cost of living rising, rising. It is not normal where we can go to the market and pick up one item and get it at an affordable price, and we are producing stuff, you know. We producing bora, cabbage and so and we greens still expensive. The government need to put things in place to help people to afford these things, especially single parents. However, not only to create jobs for young people but whoever comes into the country to work, pay them a standard price. Furthermore, the government should place control prices on food items.”
Necosie Thom
Necosie Thom, 35: “The rising cost of living has been very hard for people because a lot of things in the market went up, not just a few things…almost everything gone up, including stuff like greens and so on. We used to say food is cheaper than clothes but now clothing is way cheaper than food. For a lot of people, it has been a struggle because as they get a slight increase in their salary, they get a major increase in food prices. It is harder for you to afford to eat. Because of my job it hasn’t been that difficult for me, personally but for other people, yea. Food is a necessity; a basic human right and it is not supposed to be expensive for you to eat. You have to eat to survive, if you don’t have food, it doesn’t make no sense. The government could probably subsidize food or find something… Either if it is that the farmers are having a hard time, it has different things the government can do in order to make it better. My thing is, if there is a rise in prices for some reason then when that reason leaves, you need to drop prices when prices drop in the country. Even to gas sometimes, when they had inflation and the gas price raise, it didn’t drop back when that inflation alleviates itself. Look at the food prices, a pound of sugar used to be $60 and $100, now that same pound of sugar cost $200; the cheapest oil you can now buy cost $3,000 and something. Before the price of oil was $1,500; even butter and eschallot high, well celery always expensive.”
Abdul Nur
Abdul Nur: “The rising cost of living is affecting everyone, it is too extravagant and for this oil blooming country, right now I think, things should be better. The government should look into the rising cost of living and make certain that everyone in Guyana get their fair share in oil. If you look in the Arab world where the oil companies are blooming, the people don’t pay rent, light bill and they get subsidy from the oil every month. The poorest person in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and all those places could afford to drive one of those expensive vehicle and live happily…and Guyana should be the third largest oil producing country in the world according to the paper clipping I saw when I visited America. Another thing is the paper two days ago shows that 90 something million in excess that nobody can’t give account for. So, let the Government of Guyana, try and see what is happening and put the people of Guyana to up the standards and to make certain they live a good quality of life. For instance, the greens are very expensive: couple months ago, a pound of ochro was $100 and something and $200 and something, now that same pound cost $300; everyone complaining about how the greens are high. The government said that they can’t do anything about it, it’s the farmers. We don’t need chemicals to grow these food, the earth is fertile, you throw pumpkin seed and so on into the backyard and it grows; all these chemicals are not good for the plant.”
Lindon David
Lindon David, 68, a pensioner: “The rising cost of living is rough because by the time I spend a $5,000, my money finish. I would barely get three items with a $5,000. For instance, a few months ago, a pack of Natura milk was $500 and something, now the same pack of milk is $680…even sugar high. The government said they carry down money on the sugar price. The government have to do something about this because sugar is produced right here in Guyana. The big pack of sugar now is $740, before the big pack sugar cost $600 and something. The government have to do something about this because this country is an oil-producing country now. I’m a senior citizen likewise my partner and by the time we get a lil money, it done. The government can do, they can do something for us.”
Aliyah Wiltishra
Aliyah Wiltishra: “The cost of living has gone up in the market. I used to buy Natura milk a few months ago for $500 and $540, I’m now paying $760 and $800 for it. Greens all gone up now, I’m buying two tomatoes for a $100 or sometimes one tomatoes for $100. Even boulanger gone up high, before I used to buy 3 boulanger for $200, now I’m getting the same 3 boulanger at $300. Everything costing more money. I could have save before but now I can’t save anything. The government should try to do something about this. They can create more jobs for us.”
Bridget Pestano
Bridget Pestano, 71, a pensioner: “The cost of living is very high and it is affecting me bad right now because I don’t have money to cook a pot of food and my grandchildren are at school without a snack. Beef, chicken, everything gone up in the market. Right now a pound of beef is $800, past few months ago, it was sold for $500 a pound. Greens all gone up. This really hard for poor people. A pound of cabbage now is $500, before it was $260… and is about ten of us living together in a house, including my great grands and grandchildren and the rising cost of living is really hard for us. I try to do my side hustle to sell things because I have rent and water bill to pay. Sometimes I am able to pay half of the rent and a family member would have to help me in paying the other half. The government should look into the rising cost of living and help poor people because it is really hard on people. They can even put on a little more money on my old age pension.
Jamecia Campbell
Jamecia Campbell, 25, a single parent: “Everything gone real sky high in the market. I can’t even afford it when I go in the shop because a $1,000 can’t do anything, anymore. Sometimes I have my last $500 and that even can’t do anything when I go in the shop. Chicken price now is $600 a pound while before it was $360 a pound and beef now is sold for $800 a pound and before it was $500 a pound. Sometimes me and a whole set of people would be living in a house and we can see our way with the cost of items in the shops being so high. Somedays, I can’t afford to send my children to school because I can’t put anything in their lunch kits. I don’t know what I suppose to do, seeing that the cost of living is so high. The government should at least look into this and drop the prices on food items a little….beverages and everything else gone up in the market. I can’t say I’m going to do a lil hustle. I’m a single parent of two children and I have to support them…even the diapers for my baby gone up. The diapers I buy now, I would pay $3,000 for it, before it was $2,000.”
Rachel Edward
Rachel Edward: “The cost of living is very high to my knowing. It has been affecting me a lot because it is hard to get the money to buy the items from the shop and when I get the money, it’s not enough because only two items I could have afforded to buy with the money I had. The next thing is that you are working yes but the money can’t compensate you in paying the bills and so on. The cost of living is really tough on me. For instance, now I’m paying $680 for a pack of Thunderbolt flour and before the pack cost $500. Even the bora price gone up. I’m now buying $200 bora for 1 small parcel, before I bundle of bora was for $200. Even eggplant gone up. I don’t know what the government should do to control the cost of living because nothing really can’t be done to the farmers who are planting the greens but the government could try looking into how the groceries are sold in the market.”
Latoya Harris
Latoya Harris: “The rising cost of living is affecting us greatly because we can’t save anything and sometimes you are accustom paying one price. For example, butter – a few months ago I used to pay $2,500 for a 4-pound tub, currently it is sold for $5,000 and change. Then there is potatoes, back in the days a pound of potatoes cost $80, now a pound cost $200. So, you have to cut back on certain items. If you’re accustom buying 10 pounds of potatoes before, you have to buy 5 pounds of potatoes now. I think the government should put a market in place, where certain items are sold at a standard price because if you go to the market, one vendor will have something for $2,000 and another will have something for $4,000. This price fluctuation is causing a drain and strain on consumers also. So, if the government put a price control system in place or they can do a market, they can probably help citizens better.”
Kwesi Nurse
Kwesi Nurse, 44, an electrician: “The cost of living has gone up a lot. Everything in the country gone up two times than before. One day the cost of material have one price and the other day, it has another. For example, before a cable cost $16,000 and $17,000, now that same cable cost $30,000 and something and $40,000 and something. I would eventually end up charging my customer more on their work because all building materials gone up. I don’t know how people are coping with the rising cost of living because for me it is high. The government should cut prices on a lots of items because people will find it hard in coping with the high price in the market in the future.”
