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 happe of Guyana to up the stand they live a good quality greens are very expensiv pound of ochro was $100 and something, now that everyone complaining ab high. The government sai thing about it, it’s the f chemicals to grow these you throw pumpkin seed yard and it grows; all t good for the plant.”