Guyanese from all walks of life can now breathe easier following the brave announcements by President Bharrat Jagdeo, Wednesday afternoon, shortly after returning from an overseas visit, aimed at further cushioning the effects of rising prices and making the cost of living more manageable.

The measures announced by the Head of State were not the first of their kind to bring relief to the Guyanese public. Since the advent of increase in world food prices and shortages some months ago, the Guyana Government has from time to time been making interventions, running into billions of dollars, all in the interest of the Guyanese people.

Ministers of the Government and other Government officials paid visits to all ten Administrative Regions in the country, reaching out to the people, sensitizing them about rising prices, food shortages and the cost of living, and at the same time getting a feel from the people on finding joint solutions, and how the people themselves could contribute towards bringing some degree of comfort to their various communities.

Like society, the world stage of events is not static, and whatever takes place on that stage, is usually drifted down to us in the underdeveloped and developing world. As late President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan used to say: “When they sneeze, we catch the cold”. It simply means then that we feel the effects of whatever happens in the highly industrialised world, and our leaders are faced with the formidable task of bringing relief to the people.

Guyanese are not the only ones caught in this dragnet of rising prices and food shortages. In fact it would be correct to say there are no food shortages in Guyana. We have food in abundance here, unlike our counterparts in CARICOM, where there are food shortages and high prices.

This is so telling in some of these countries that the people have resorted to rioting and looting supplies of even basic necessities.

Our government however, with its vision, and caring as it could be, until now has stood up admirably to the test and dished out relief after relief to the welfare of the Guyanese people.

It is indeed strange and unfortunate that although the facts speak for themselves, there are still people among our midst including so-called leaders who find comfort in engaging in psilology.

The Guyanese people welcome the new measures announced by President Bharrat Jagdeo aimed at bringing further comfort to everyone in the country. As enunciated by the Head of State:

Government to subsidise increases on flour
- 5 percent pay hike for government workers, retroactive to January
- $4,000 (additional) tax free for those earning below $50,000 per month
- $20M in seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to increase food production

Guyanese note with satisfaction that on top of all of that, the government has also bought some 200,000 one kilogramme packets of flour for sale (minus the price increase) to vulnerable groups countrywide.

The people acknowledge that the measures taken with regards to flour will cost the government some $200M, but they are temporary as indications are that there will be a possible stabilising and even partial reversal in the price of wheat on the world market in the months ahead. This is a good sign which could also signal declining prices for the commodity.

In announcing the measures, President Jagdeo said:

“Taken together with the other measures implemented earlier this year, we anticipate that these initiatives will make a significant contribution in helping to cushion the immediate impact of world market prices on domestic consumers”.

We recall other government interventions which included measures aimed at reducing or containing the cost of basic goods and services to consumers and producers in the domestic economy. We also note the progressive reduction of the fuel excise tax from 50 percent on gasoline and 25 percent on dieselene at the beginning of 2007 to 17 percent on gasoline and zero percent on dieselene at the moment, while the Value Added Tax (VAT) was zero rated from a long list of basic consumer items.

The measures taken so far are a clear manifestation of the caring character of the Bharrat Jagdeo Administration which has always had the interest of the Guyanese people at heart.