Rising food prices absorb salary increases

THE EDITOR: I am so saddened by the state of affairs in this country that it leaves me to wonder what is really going on. To make matters worse is the laissez faire attitude with which these matters are being treated. As a public servant I received a 15 percent increase in salary, which was treated with much gusto and fanfare as a big achievement. This comes right on the heels of a rise in flour prices ( to the tune of 15 percent), a 25-50 percent rise in daily transportation to place of employment and other necessities, and now the granddaddy of them all a 25 percent increase in the price of rice, a basic staple in my diet as well as the diet of many other people here.

How in God’s name can we say we are getting a better standard of living when as soon as we receive some form of appreciable remuneration everything skyrockets to put us back a few years! It becomes as if we did not get anything at all to begin with! To make matters worse we are told to eat cassava! The mere mention of that statement shows how out of touch the ‘leaders’ of our nation is with the state of affairs here. The price of cassava is between $2.50- $4.00 a pound. It is not that affordable. To add insult to injury, cassava is not as versatile as rice and, let us face it, not a norm on the daily menu of many people. What is interesting to note is that cassava is a common food amongst the Afro Trindadian community (not saying Indians and others do not enjoy the staple!) and the promotion of this root without proper redress for the rise for the rising rice prices could indicate a type of forced culture bias.

It could be taken on so many levels but what is glaring is that basic food items are now more out of reach of the poor man, who is desperate as it is in this island. Therefore he may have to resort to more desperate measures to secure the basics for his family. Is there is link in poverty and the growing crime. You figure it out. Right now I have to find a place in the concrete, chook a cassava stick and wait for it to grow. When it does I will have dhal and cassava, Spanish cassava, bahji cassava, egg fried cassava, vegetable cassava, and for Divali instead of having sweet rice I am most looking forward to eating sweet cassava!

RYAN MARTINEZ
Gasparillo