Dear Editor,
The President of Guyana Irfaan Ali continues to face widespread criticism for saying that the eating out at restaurants or buying food in boxes and shopping at supermarkets have contributed to the high cost of living and run-away inflation in the country.
This is a very silly, foolish and indeed asinine comment by the president because the people did not create the high cost of living debacle by trying to put food on the table to feed their children. It is a boldfaced attempt by the president to shift blame from his poor leadership, major policy failures and massive corruption by linking the country’s devastating cost-of-living crisis to the eating and spending habits of the ordinary citizens.
Furthermore, it is offensive and disgusting for the president to even issue such a ridiculous statement. It shows that he is deeply flawed, tone-deaf and very insulting to all Guyanese. As president, he should be intelligent enough to know not to utter those words. He should think carefully before he speaks because Guyanese have been eating out and shopping at supermarkets for decades. Biblical references (Proverbs 16:23) have stated that intelligent persons think before they speak to avoid consequences.
For the president to suggest that working-class families, single mothers, pensioners and the poor are the architects of their own financial pain and suffering is extremely troubling and a profound abdication of his, and his corrupt and inept government policies. The hard truth is that the citizens of Guyana are not struggling to survive because they are buying food from restaurants or shopping at supermarkets. They are struggling because unlike him they do not possess an abundance of wealth, a monthly salary of $3 million, allowances, and an affluent and luxurious lifestyle.
The reality is the price of basic food items and necessities such as a single bundle of market vegetables and greens, ground provision, cooking oil, rents, utilities and transportation have skyrocketed beyond their reach. The president should know that eating out at restaurants is not a lifestyle choice, but a desperate fight for survival because basic food items and fuel are draining the entire pay cheques of the average Guyanese. Even though many of them are working two and three jobs, they are struggling to make ends meet and to live a comfortable life.
As the Head-of State of an oil-rich country, experiencing unprecedented macroeconomic growth, it is the president’s job to implement robust economic policies, control inflation and protect the purchasing power of the people, especially the poor. Therefore, for him to shift the blame for his failed policies and poor leadership to the plates of hungry citizens is callous and a perverse and reckless attempt to ignore the reality that 56 percent of the population are living in poverty. However, it seems that the president threw in the towel when he admitted that his government has no policy to address the reduction of poverty and the high cost of living pressures the people are facing, especially the most vulnerable in society.
Finally, the people do not need lectures from a president who pretend not to know of the high level of poverty in the country. They need decisive, direct and immediate government intervention to bring down the high cost of living and to improve their lives. They need true, honest, ethical and moral leaders who should stop the blame game and find solutions to the vexing problems that continue to plague the nation and destroy the lives of the people.