Dear Editor,
Barbados recently announced several measures to cushion the effects of the global rise in the cost of living and as expected, the opportunistic Opposition politicians in Guyana are using it as a rallying cry against the PPP/C Government.
I say opportunistic in this instance because it is the same Opposition that constantly attacks Barbadian Prime Minister, Mia Mottley ever since she stood up against their attempt to remain in office through electoral fraud.
But back to the topic of the cost of living interventions.
Though I agree that more interventions are needed here, and the Government has assured that more will be done, it is also important to point out that most of what is now being done in Barbados has already been done by the PPP/C Administration.
When the Dr Irfaan Ali-led Government came into office in 2020, VAT was removed completely from water and electricity consumption in its first budget. Meanwhile, Barbados is now moving to reduce VAT on electricity from 17.5% to 7.5%.
Another example is that while Barbados is now moving to remove VAT on 44 “essential” food items, many of these food items such as whole chicken, chicken back, eggs etc do not attract VAT in Guyana.
In fact, in its 2021 budget, the PPP/C Government restored to zero-rated status all of the food items and other basic household necessities that were previously zero-rated at the time it demitted office in 2015 that the APNU/AFC put VAT on.
These items include basic wheaten flour, basic breads, oats, unflavoured cracker biscuits, cooking oil, locally produced bed sheets, and pillowcases, and toothbrushes among other items.
The facts are that since assuming office in August of 2020 the PPP/C Government has provided billions of dollars in relief to first cushion the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, then the severe flooding, and later the rise in the cost of living – all of which were brought on by circumstances outside of its control.
We must give Jack his jacket!
Sincerely yours,
Andron Pires
