Forward march for better food prices

One couldn’t help thinking about the significance of the flooded streets and the issues motivating the demonstration. Here we were addressing the questions — what kind of society do we wish to have, what type of development are we pursuing? — and one thunderstorm provided the answers. With all the money being spent in the country, and with priority being given to large prestige projects, we have just not been able to solve the basic problems that people have. Problems like flooding, for example.

So we are reconstructing downtown Port-of-Spain to make it look like Miami, but whenever it rains the city’s streets flood. And the Minister of Agriculture last week belatedly announces yet another plan for agriculture and yet we see in yesterday’s newspapers depressing pictures of flooded out crops and farms. I am sure that in the next few days we will have the usual “tours” by various officials and promises of assistance. But the truth is that inaction by successive governments is resulting in farmers being literally driven out of agriculture. It is not that agriculture is dying so much as we are killing it!

But FITUN’s consistent mobilisation on food prices and agriculture is already scoring victories. You may have seen advertisements appearing in the press over the last few days announcing that the import duties on certain food items has been reduced. Now this was a promise made in the 2005/6 Budget, delivered at the end of September last year. That it has taken some eleven months to implement is indicative of two facts. Firstly, that it was never really a priority of the Government and secondly, that it was a last minute addition to the Budget in order to appease consumers who were being mobilised by FITUN. If it had been properly thought out by the Government the bureaucracy of CARICOM would have been tackled well before the Budget presentation and a decision to allow this country to amend the provisions of the CARICOM Common External Tariff (CET) obtained before the announcement was made.

The fact is, however, that this promise made almost a year ago could have languished if we had not consistently campaigned on food prices. Our campaign has also provoked Nestle into offering the dairy farmers an increase in the price paid for milk supplied for processing. This is the first such concession made by Nestle in nine years! The dairy farmers will, however, continue their struggle as the price increase is still not fair. At the same time a number of overtures are being made by various officials to farmers with promises to “look into” this proposal and that, which proposals were made years ago.

So there is some movement. This just shows what concerted mass action — beginning with public education and information to stimulate awareness and moving to demonstrations and other forms of activity — can achieve. There has been a noticeable absence of this kind of sustained campaign in Trinidad and Tobago for some time. True there have been spontaneous protests — communities demonstrating or even blocking roads; workers taking action at the workplace around an industrial relations problem — but there has not been a campaign that brings us all together in common action. This is what FITUN’s campaign around high food prices is slowly beginning to do.

But there is much, much more to be done. There are still too many citizens who are prepared to stand on the sidelines and grumble. They will say — “allyuh, must do something” or “when you are ready to do something drastic, then I’ll join in because marches don’t make sense.” To these doubting Thomases I say this. It is not a matter of “allyuh.” It is a matter of “we.” The only ones who can say “allyuh” are those who are not affected by the problem. I don’t know about you, but I certainly am affected by high food prices and many other unnecessary problems in this country.

The CEO’s of companies who, according to one reputable firm, earn an average of $70,000 per month and annual bonuses of another $250,000, certainly do not have to worry about food prices. They can comfortably say “allyuh.” The rest of us need to say —“we must do something.”

For if we don’t then we will have nobody to blame for what’s taking place. If you are not part of the solution then you’re really part of the problem. And this takes me to my second response.

Some believe mistakenly that more drastic action is required. Of course they never specify what this “drastic” action is. A general strike? But then will they participate? Will they give up a day’s pay or more — a week’s pay, for example, to force the Government and big business to change direction? I somehow doubt it. But suppose there is a march with 20,000 or 40,000 participants? And that these marches happen every Monday morning. Would that not be drastic action? And would that not force the wielders of economic and political power to shape up or ship out?

By standing on the sidelines and saying “allyuh” or “I’ll join only if”, is really to abdicate one’s responsibility to actually do something. FITUN therefore will continue the process of educating and mobilising, for we are sure that we are on the right track. Friday’s powerful demonstration is proof of that.