Food price increases not minimal

THE EDITOR: I wonder when was the last time a sitting PNM government minister actually “made groceries” or went into a grocery.

Minister of Trade Paula Gopee-Scoon said last week that food prices did not increase by much under the PNM. What nonsense is she speaking?

The very first thing the Rowley administration did when it got into office, in 2015, was to increase food prices by 12.5 per cent. This happened because it added VAT to over 5,000 food items which were previously VAT free.

The price of a 454g pack of butter increased from $27 in 2015 to $60 this year, an increase of almost 120 per cent.

In January, local sweet potatoes were $12.67 a kilogram; by September it was $22.40/kg, a 75 per cent increase in less than a year.

While it is expected that the prices of local fruits and vegetables will vary depending on the season, it is really stretching credulity to expect us to believe that food price increases were minimal.

This generation of PNM politicians seems to have lost touch with the common people while living high off the hog. Ditto for the UNC politicians.

LINUS F DIDIER

Mt Hope

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