Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 15, 2015 Editorial
Every day the reports both in the foreign television stations and in the newspapers that the price of oil has fallen to near five-year lows catches the eye. Last year at this time oil was being sold on the world market at about US$120 per barrel. Today the world market price is US$42 per barrel.
The significance of this is the lower prices of so many oil related things. For example, travel has become cheap in the rest of the world. Gasoline prices have fallen to unbelievable lows—in the United States to US$2.20 cents per gallon. Such low prices operated when the United States was obsessed with large cars. The rising prices saw a shift to the smaller cars hence the preponderance of foreign made cars in that country.
Air travel is also becoming cheaper although in the days when the oil prices began to fall, the various airlines argued that they were maintaining the high airfares to recover their losses. Indeed, there was a time when they were forced to try all manner of things to simply remain afloat. Many folded.
However, the air fares are falling because the traveller is not going to allow the airline to make the phenomenal profits. One wishes if Guyana could put similar pressures on the government. Despite the oil prices falling by more than 50 per cent, nothing has changed in the marketplace.
Gasoline and other fuel prices remain at the same level as when the cost of oil on the world marked was US$120 per barrel. Motorists are still being asked to pay US$5 per gallon for gasoline. Dieseline and kerosene are still at the high prices. The major beneficiaries of the lower prices, then, are the Guyana Government and the petrol dealers.
In fact, the government sought to capitalize early. As soon as the prices began to fall the government hiked its excise tax on fuel to 40 per cent. Although no announcement has been made we are certain that the government is collecting its maximum 50 per cent excise tax on fuel imports. This will surely ensure that he price remain high to local consumers.
Consumers of electricity are also enjoying nothing. We can still remember the fuel charges to compensate for any rise in fuel cost. There was no secret that the power company could not be expected to operate a loss hence the fuel charges. But by the same token the power company should recognize that it needed to provide its consumers with an ease in better times.
The fact that the power company is battling high technical and commercial losses should be of no concern to the consumer at this time. In any case the consumer foots the bill for the commercial losses. People should be paying about 40 per cent less on their energy bill but even here the government is unyielding.
One would suppose that the argument is that the government is bent on collecting as much money as it could; this is the businessman’s mentality—make huge profits when the opportunity arises. The situation is such that even the airlines operating out of Guyana also capitalize on the position on which the government has put the people. The cost of an airline ticket is still high and some airlines even compound the issue by charging for an extra piece of luggage as they did when the oil prices were high.
Because of the insistence of the government on filling its coffers people who are always petitioning the government for pay increases cannot even enjoy the reprieve that should provide them with a bit of disposable income.
There can be no explanation for the continued high cost of things in the market place at a time when every other country is passing on the lower oil prices to its people. And surprisingly, there is no strident call for this to happen. It is as if every section of the society expects to be milked.
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
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