Living costs sure to go up in 2021

THE EDITOR: While many may be pleased with the 2020-2021 budget, who are the ones who will really benefit?

In these tough times the less fortunate will need the most help or they will go under.

The property tax is already a done deal. It’s only a matter of how much property owners will have to pay.

And let us not fool ourselves. The restructuring of WASA will impact on water rates – and the same can be said for T&TEC.

Also, with the sale of NP stations, gas prices are sure to go up and the cost of living will rise. Those investors will be in control and we will be at their mercy.

Can citizens, thousands of whom have lost their jobs, take on these additional cost-of-living burdens? Definitely not? While some businesses may benefit from certain measures, many citizens will just have to dig deeper into their almost empty pockets.

And there is the great possibility that more job cuts could come in 2021 with the restructuring of WASA and the privatising of the port. We cannot escape this.

So who will benefit the most from these budget measures? Certainly not those who need help to come out of that deep hole in which they find themselves.

ARNOLD GOPEESINGH

via e-mail