There is growing discontent with the decision announced by Finance Minister Colm Imbert last Friday to increase fuel prices.
Last weekend, the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) and Watson Duke’s Progressive Democratic Patriots ) PDP) rallied the population to protest the planned hikes.
Premium gasoline will increase by $1 per litre to $6.75, super gasoline to $5.97, diesel by 50 cents to $3.91 a litre and kerosene will cost $3.50. The net effect is that the cost of transportation will increase. In some communities, taxi fares have already increased by $1.
The increased costs will also be felt by companies supplying goods and services who are likely to pass on those increases to consumers, dealing a double whammy to an already reeling citizenry.
There is no right time to increase prices. However, in the past two years, thousands of citizens have lost their jobs and many families are under pressure from the onslaught of the COVID-19 virus, which has left many households struggling to make ends meet.
Minister Imbert famously boasted that under his watch fuel prices increased “not once, not twice, but three times and nobody rioted.’ That is not a yardstick by which to gauge how people are affected by such decisions, although it seems to be the yardstick by which the authorities judge forecast public reactions to some measures.
Over the years, citizens have faced situations that forced them to lower their standard of living just to put food on the table or ensure their children get an education. This increase in fuel prices is another of those situations
On Sunday MSJ political leader David Abdullah described the increases in gas and diesel prices as “putting a knee on the neck of poor people and working people in this country.” Pressure is indeed mounting on those who can least afford it.
Politicians would not dare take the chance of increasing the cost of anything that affects the poor and middle income during an election season—not with the risk that the masses might take to the streets in protest against any unpopular decisions they make.
Good governance is about keeping an ear to the ground, staying in touch with developments at the grassroots level and having a firm grasp on issues affecting the general population. Citizens are already registering their frustrations over the increases in abuse of children, domestic violence, suicides, and violent crimes.
These are not things that happen by chance and the frustration and the suffering in segments of the population should not be ignored.
When the increases in fuel prices take effect a week from today the repercussions will be widespread. The financial pain will be felt, not only by the motorists who buy fuel at the pumps but by every man, woman and child in this country. The hardest hit will be those forced to make the tough choice between putting food on their tables or paying higher taxi fares for their children to get to and from school.
That is the sad reality many in this country now face. Unfortunately, it seems, many occupying high offices seem completely unaware of the hardships many citizens are already experiencing.