RECENTLY, there have been many complaints from commuters about the increase in fares being demanded by minibus, taxi and boat operators, and it is heartening to see Minister Juan Edgehill, under whose portfolio the matter falls, giving the issue due attention.
The increase in fares, he made clear, is unauthorised. Fares for public transportation are governed by a clearly established structure that includes stakeholders’ input, with express approval by the government.
It is not a case where operators of public transportation can unilaterally decide to increase their fares because they believe that they should increase it, and they have good reasons for doing so.
The operators mentioned have contended that they have increased their fares because of the increase in fuel prices, as well as the increase in cost of living, which have minimised their profit margin.
These reasons being provided, on close examination, are not only unfair but opportunistic, to say the least.
Firstly, the increase in fuel prices is a matter beyond Guyana’s control. The increase stems from the ongoing war between Russia and the Ukraine. Russia is a major oil and gas supplier to Europe, and sanctions placed on Russia by European nations have resulted in a global shortfall, which, in turn, has driven up the cost for these commodities, globally.
Recognising the impact this increase was having on locals, the government, in March slashed the excise tax on diesel and gasoline from 10 per cent to zero. Prior to this intervention, the government, in Budget 2022, had reduced the excise tax on gasoline and diesel from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.
Like the increase in fuel prices, the increase in cost of living is not a challenge that affects Guyana alone, but is a global challenge occasioned by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.
These two counties are major producers of wheat, and the war has affected global supplies. However, prices in recent weeks have dipped, globally, as well as the prices for all cereals following an agreement reached between Ukraine and Russia to unblock exports from key Black Sea ports.
COVID-19, as many would know, has severely affected the global supply chain as a result of major companies shuttering or downsizing their operations. Once there is no major new challenge, the global increase in cost of living is expected to level out in the near future, with the recent agreement between Russia and the Ukraine, and as the world exits the pandemic.
Here in Guyana, the government has not been sitting on its hands amid these global challenges. Aside from the complete removal of excise taxes on diesel and gasoline, the government has made a number of major interventions to shore up the welfare of the people. These include the provision of 11,000 part-time jobs to supplement income at the household level, the provision of COVID-19 cash grant to all Guyanese, and the extension of support, to the tune of billions of dollars, to farmers, fishermen, miners and other Guyanese of various strata of society.
The unilateral fare increase of operators of public transportation is, therefore, unfair, oppressive and exploitative, as it adds to the burden on the ‘small man’ who has already been squeezed by the increase in cost of living. It is in this light that Minister Edghill’s comments in relation to the fare increase by the mentioned public transportation operators cannot be more apt, when he said, thusly:
“If the Government is subsidising the consumer and the operator, how could the operator go to the consumer and say, ‘pay me more?’ What is happening in our world is not just a Guyana problem or a speedboat problem or a minibus problem, it’s a global problem, and we have to be our brother’s keeper; we have to be sensitive, and we have to be responsive in these matters.”