The PNCR yesterday reiterated its concern over the rising cost of living.

A press statement read by Keith Scott of the main opposition parliamentary party at yesterday’s press briefing said now that Carifesta, which was officially estimated to cost more than $500M, was over, Guyanese must return to the sobering reality of the unconscionable 16% VAT and the consequential upwardly spiralling cost of living.

The party said it was evident that, contrary to the government propaganda, the spike in the cost of living was far from moderating. It was asserted that the “PNCR considers that the recent release, from the Statistical Bureau, which suggests that there has been a moderate 5% increase in retail prices, in the first half of the year, nothing short of the cynical humour of the Jagdeo administration.”

It was added that it was because the PNCR was convinced that there was a continuous and debilitating rise in the cost of living that it has demanded that public servants and workers in the private sector be granted adequate emoluments to cope with this socially corrosive reality. “The party has also called on the administration to ensure that those in receipt of public assistance and pensions have those increased significantly.”

It was articulated that the government appeared to be unwilling to address these concerns. “Information available, however, suggests that the reason for this reluctance may be attributable to the levels of benefits being received by some of the regime’s key lieutenants.”

PNCR parliamentarian Aubrey Norton in response to a Stabroek News query said that the PNCR stood in solidarity with the field and factory workers employed with the Guyana Sugar Corporation who are currently engaged in an industrial dispute with their employer centred around their demand for a livable rate of remuneration.

The PNCR said in conclusion that there could be no greater proof of the Marxist belief that the ruling classes could never understand or empathize with the labouring masses.