While some Barbadians agree that some supermarkets are jacking up the prices of food items, others believe that consumers need to become more self-sufficient.
Nation online readers were reacting to a story quoting president of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce Andy Armstrong who disagreed with earlier comments from Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler that some supermarkets were ripping off Barbadians with indiscriminate price increases.
We asked some of our readers to respond to the issue and the following are some of the comments shared.
Dev Bruce said: “I believe there is price gouging, however even so food prices are too high and continue to raise worldwide.
“Enough talk about feeding ourselvesand start doing it. We need the business sector to make farming a lucrative field once again. We have enough hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets to spur our agricultural industry. I’m sure when there is money to be made in farming, people will take a serious look,” he said.
Melvin Skeete said: “If we buy almost everything from abroad and have the taste for other people’s goods and don’t want to produce ground provisions or eat them we going to have pay high prices”.
“…We Bajans don’t want to eat yam, sweet potatoes or that kind of food that help or parents and grandparents live to a ripe old age. We want to eat fast food and import costly food products. Well, if that is what we want, we’ll pay the high cost”.
Matthew Clarke wrote that the prices were going up even before the Value Added Tax increase in the last budget presented by Sinckler.
Wayne Griffith said the Budget “sent everything higher”.
“Businesses have expenses to meet and the consumers pay the final price”.
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carolmartindale@nationnews.com
