Stabroek News spoke to members of the public in Triumph, East Coast Demerara about the rising cost of living and how it is affecting them. The following are their comments:
Nina Anderson
Nina Anderson, a 53-year-old business woman said: “The cost of living is affecting my family and I a lot because every day you go on the road, there is no price control on food items. Everyday there is a new price on food items. Also, the cost on basic things are not reducing; like the electricity and internet. Another thing is that the government is giving the Asian market more preference than the Guyanese market. The price for a lot of food item has increased in the market. For example, the cost for a 10kg bag of Karibee rice a couple months back cost $2,000; now the same bag of rice cost $2,200. Cooking gas before cost $4,400; now the cost for a cylinder of cooking gas is $4,800. I’m a family of three, including my mother and my sister. My sister and I run a shop to maintain the three of us. Even the income we receive from the daily sales is not enough to maintain us. We would have to rely on help from family overseas every month. My mother is a pensioner and she is disabled, so we also get a little help from the government on the water bill. The government should be able to pay people so they can be able to offset their financial situation. Look at the basic teachers, they are fighting for a raise of pay and the government shunning them and threatening them to dismiss them…There is also a problem with the drainage system here that needs to be addressed by the relevant authority.”