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St. Georges, October 23rd,
2008: The
New National Party Opposition believes
that the new Government must take
immediate and drastic actions to help
the thousands of Grenadians who will not
be able to cope with the sudden
significant increase in fuel prices and
the continuous rise in the cost of
electricity. The Opposition says the new
government must take full responsibility
for this sudden increase, particularly
in the 20lb cylinder cooking gas, which
is increasing from $43.81 to $51.55.
The
Opposition advises the general public
that, according to law the price of
petroleum to the consumers must be
adjusted every 8 weeks to reflect the
average price of the products over that
period and can result either in an
increase or decrease in prices. The
last adjustment was made in May 2008
under the Keith Mitchell
administration. It was then due to be
revised in July 2008 when the NDC
assumed office.
However,
the new government refused to adjust the
prices because at that time there would
have been an increase and this together
with the rising cost of living would
have shown up the empty promises of the
NDC to immediately bring down prices
which they claim were high and rising
because of the Keith Mitchell
administration. As a consequence, while
the cost of fuel has gone down
internationally, Grenadians are now
forced to pay significantly more because
of poor management by the NDC.
Members of
the Opposition wish to remind the
Government that they had promised that
steps will be taken from day one to
reduce the cost of living. However the
opposition is not satisfied that the new
government is fulfilling this
commitment.
In addition
to the rising cost of fuel, Grenadians
are also struggling to deal with the
rising cost of electricity. The NDC now
finds itself in the best position to
deal with a problem which it created
while in office in 1994. The Grenada
Electricity Services was sold out by the
NDC Government, with government not
retaining sufficient shares, to
influence the prices. The sale did not
give the Regulatory Commission the power
to monitor and control the increases in
prices so all cost are currently passed
on to the customers many of whom are
unable to cope with the increase of most
basic food items.
The
opposition believes that while the Petro
Caribe arrangement is benefiting the
government and people of Grenada by
injecting about 5 million dollars into
the treasury every month, the Government
should move speedily to implement the
NNP’s plan already in train to construct
the tank farm at Queens Park to bring
more clients besides Grenlec on board so
that the Government can collect the
projected 200 million dollars annually
which can help the vulnerable to deal
with the rising cost of living. |
