Interviews and photos by Subhana Shiwmangal
On Friday, Stabroek News spoke to members of the public in Cotton Field, Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast in Region Two about the rising cost of living and how it is affecting them. Their comments follow:
Bobby Bacchus
Bobby Bacchus, a 60-year-old businessman said: “The… prices in the market and supermarkets around the Essequibo coast are almost double. My thing is the government is building roads and buildings in the country and they can’t take care of the people of this country? What is the purpose of their position in this country seeing that they have people starving? It doesn’t make sense they building all these roads and big, big, buildings and people starving in this country. This is why this country can’t make progress, because if you look at the foreign countries, they take care of the animals and these people nah even take care of the human them. The government does survey like one or two times a year to know the position of people’s income. Today, Oh Ghee, look at the bracket, the lower caste of people and help them. The government can finance them by giving them a monthly stipend to elevate the people standard of living. Now, people are working hard to take care of their families and they can’t reach the requirement to do that since things are very expensive for the them and the government taking the people that are going to jail and assisting them with all kinds of food to feed them; the people who are working hard them nah get that. Everything gone up and it’s affecting everyone, not just me: provision, greens, everything gone up. For instance, the past few months ago a pound of plantain cost $150, $120, now that same pound is sold in the market for $300. Look, the government give Amerindian people so much of things, which is good. I’m not against that but I’m not getting wood to do my business, I’m into the furniture business… When you look at it, the work money isn’t enough too. All the prices for things gone up. Before I used to buy crabwood at $120 and $130 a BM now I buy that same wood at $200 and $250 a BM. I even had to raise my furniture prices when selling to customers and they complaining because they can’t afford it. Some ah them, the income could barely do fuh feed them family. I think the government should [ensure] … the children can be fed, the adults can go without but the children no they can’t. Give them stipends every month, even the destitute needs help. This country have a lot of poor people; some people receiving public assistance from the government, yes, but that amount too is not enough to support these families because everything gone up in the country now.”
Helen Warren
Helen Warren said: “The rising cost of living is hard on me and family because I don’t really get money to buy things that I supposed to buy. I’m the only breadwinner in my family of four and them prices for things in the market gone up. The past few months ago, I used to buy four or five boulanger for $200, now boulanger cost two for $500 here. Everything gone up. Before I used to buy two pounds of onions for $100, now a pound of onion is $100; calaloo now is $300 for a small parcel, before 2 parcels was for $100. I think the government should lower the prices for items in the market because money ain’t deh fuh buy them at the current price…everything gone up in the market.”
Richard Pitam
Richard Pittam, a 52-year-old businessman said: “Cost of living is very high. The items in the supermarket is high since the prices for basic stuff like rice, flour, sugar – the main things that are produced in Guyana – gone up. Even oil gone up in the market. I normally would buy a five-gallon bottle oil for $5,000, now it is $9,000. Onions expensive too. I used to buy a bag of onions for $2,500, now the cost is about $5,000. These rise in price is affecting me and family because I have other small businesses and I would have to buy these things every day. When I’m selling these things people crying out because the prices are high. Everyone crying out about the same things I’m facing with. Some days I barely would squeeze money to feed my family. The government should get some price control on items sold in the market. The authority should check the price in the market and try to control it or the government could remove tax from the items sold in the market.”
Denis Persaud
Denis Persaud said: “When I spoke to the workers, they said that they used to buy three eggs for $100; one egg now is sold nearly for $60 and $80, this is just a simple product that we don’t import. I’m now buying a tray of eggs now for $1,600 and $1,700. What I find people doing in Essequibo is grading the eggs, the small ones they taking and selling it out cheaper while the big ones them ah put in a tray and sell it for $1,600, $1,700… I know before a tray of eggs were a $1,000. What happen here in Essequibo, by the transport system in Georgetown is expensive, things more expensive here. If I want to transport one piece of cloth from Georgetown to Essequibo before it was $200, now them man want $500 and something to transport one piece of cloth from Georgetown to Essequibo. So the transport prices more expensive here on the Essequibo coast. I think what the government could have done instead of sharing money to people and wasting money on certain things, use the money and carry down the cost of living so that everyone can benefit from it because when they share money to people, certain people get money while some don’t. That’s the disadvantage some people face.”
Somattie Sooklall
Somattie Sooklall said: “The government is trying in the country but the things in the market is expensive since the income is not enough to buy things in the market. Like how the things them get so expensive, the money nah do to buy items for my family of four. I find that my husband’s income is not rising but the things in the market is rising. I have to buy less now. Now I can’t afford to buy oil because it is expensive so we make coconut oil. Before I used to pay $500 for four boulanger, now two boulanger is for $500. We are refilling our drinking water now because it is cheaper to do so compared to buying the sealed bottles since the sealed drinking water now cost $1,000 compared to when I used to buy it for $500, a few months ago. I think the government is trying, yes, however they can see how they can carry down prices for items in the market cause things expensive now.”
Ramrattie Naraine
Ramrattie Naraine, a 63-year-old vendor said: “I think things are expensive in the market due to the war and then things imported into Guyana. My son-in-law and daughter-in-law would buy groceries for the house. However, I would sell different things in the market to contribute to the home. Despite the rising cost of living is affecting me, I would try to cope with the rise in prices in the market. When I go to town I find some of the things raise on haberdashery that I buy to sell back but I didn’t raise much on it for people because I had to cater if the shoppers can afford the items. However, things gone up in the market because a few months ago I bought a box of thread for $300 and something, now I’m paying $400 and something for a box. I find when people go and buy things to sell back they raise their price too high. I see the people itself exploiting consumers; the people that buy to sell back, selling their items more than the amount they should be selling the items for. I would raise my price by $10 or so and still make a profit but some of them overdo it. For instance, before I used to buy four boulanger for $200 or three boulanger for $500, now the people selling three or four boulanger for $1,000. Is we own people exploiting people in the market, the government don’t have anything to do with this. I don’t know what the government should do about this. However I think they could visit these people and talk to them about the prices they selling these items for in the market.”
Kenny Smith
Kenny Smith said: “Things have gone up in the market – groceries, clothes, footwear, even kerosene. I normally would measure and sell kerosene and I find that I’m selling it for more. I used to sell a litre of kerosene for $300 and sometimes $260. Now I am selling that same litre of kerosene for $400 because everything gone up in the market. Look at the cost for a small pack Breeze soap powder. I’m paying $160 for it now and before I used to pay $140 and $120 for the same soap powder. The government should reduce the prices on some items so the people would not have to feel that they are punishing to survive with the prices items are sold at present. Clothes, food and kerosene should drop a little because instead of buying more, I’m buying less and we all are trying to survive with these high prices.”
Doreen Mangra
Doreen Mangra, a 62-year-old vendor said: “Items in the market has gone up. Everything gone up and for some items the prices fluctuates in the market. Food stuff like flour and rice, one time the price goes down then it rise up again. Another thing, when the new market was built, Bush Lot Municipal Market, it was built to accommodate the vendors from the old market that is currently selling on the region road to move to the new market but vendors don’t want to come. That is another reason why business slow up in the market and as a result of that consumers are hardly coming to buy in the new market. On top of that everything gone up in the market, before I used to pay $340 for a self-rising flour, now it is being sold for $440. Everything gone up by a $100 or so. Even oil gone up. If I want a pint of oil I have to buy a whole bottle. Look at the transportation cost in this region, it is high. I think the transportation cost in Essequibo is the highest cost throughout the country since I used to pay $60 and $100 from Anna Regina to Bush Lot, now I’m paying $200 for the same distance. I won’t say that the government has anything to do with the rise in prices since this problem is a worldwide crisis because everyone is affected by this. I can’t say what they should do to lower the prices in the market because the private sectors are facing their own realities in life.”
Kamla Saakar
Kamla Saakar said: “Once the money raise in the budget, everything rising in the market. Then when you are going to work the people are not receiving the correct payments that could match the rise in price for the items in the market. Things really hard because I’m finding it hard to pay the electricity bill, doctor bill, internet bill. In the market everything raise by $100. Before I used to buy one parcel of bora for $100 or $200, now I’m getting $260 and $300 a parcel. Look at how a small pack Natura milk is sold, now it cost $760 or $800 at other shops, before the same pack was $500 and $440. Now I have to buy less than what I used to buy. I’m glad when the hospital has the medication to provide to me because I don’t get extra money to buy those things. The government is doing well, however, the people them need to get good pay for their job.”
Bhagwandai Seenauth
Bhagwandai Seenauth, a 58-year-old vendor said: “When I tell the customer that buy from me that the items in the market gone up, they don’t want to buy. The rising cost of living is not affecting me much since my daughter is helping me to contribute to the home. However, I’m still feeling the squeeze because the amount of money I used to receive, I’m not getting that now. I can’t save and we are buying less than before. Right now, I’m selling two small boulanger for $300, before I used to sell 3 boulanger for $300. Pumpkin all gone up, even tomatoes. Before, a pound of tomatoes was $300, $400, now a pound is sold for $500. The government should see something to do about the rise in prices in the market.”
Govinda Singh
Govinda Singh, a 27-year-old businessman of Roy’s Extra Quality Product said: “The rising cost of living has affected my family and I tremendously because prices for everything went up. I mean due to Covid and a whole lot of other situations contributed to the rise in items in the market; oil and gas and stuff like that. It has been hard to get workers and the price for labour has increased for us as a private business. Almost everyone has stopped selling in the Bush Lot Municipal Market and they are looking for other avenues to get an extra income. Prices for items has risen so much that people can’t really afford anything anymore. So they cut back on buying because the little they worked for they can’t spend as much. It has affected us in that sense because we had to raise prices as well for raw material, labour, packaging and those things. Some items we had to raise were our Cinnamon spice – before we used to sell a pound for $1,200, now the cost for that same pound is $2000 – then there is Geera, before it was $700 a pound, now it’s $800. Consumers are still purchasing but they are complaining about it. However, there’s nothing we can do about it given that the rise in prices contributes to our production cost. We won’t be making any profits if we didn’t raise our prices on items. Another thing is that there is illegal vending at the Anna Regina bus park due to a few vendors that started vending there and since then business had slowed up in this market because people are going to the vendors that are selling on the park instead of coming here. Here in the Bush Lot Municipal Market it has all kinds of convenient – good parking, no flooding and so on – for vendors but still some vendors choose to sell there, slowing up business here in the market. Only a few vendors are in this market now. The government should further subsidise the high cost of imports on duties and should look into the illegal vendors that are selling at the Anna Regina bus park.”
Deodat Persaud
Deodat Persaud said: “The rising cost of living has affected us a great deal. The groceries, especially the foreign items that are being imported, have affected us a great deal. The government should rectify the foreign items that are used mostly by Guyanese and subsidize in relation to minimise the prices we have to pay for these items in the store, supermarket and so forth. Well the local items we are already paying less on that. I see that oil gone down from $800 a bottle to $600 a bottle now. However, imported stuff like baby items and toilet papers are still expensive. For instance, a bale of House Proud was below $3,000 before, now it cost $4,000. Canned stuff like sardines and sweet potatoes all expensive, a tin of sardine before was $100, now it cost about $160. Even the stationery are expensive and it’s affecting me because I’m spending more than before.”
