By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Government must subsidise the temporary increase in the price of wheat and insulate the population from higher prices.
This is according to Executive Director of the Citizens Union of Trinidad and Tobago (CUTT) Phillip Edward Alexander.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Alexander stated, “There are enough instances of known mismanagement and wastage of public funds that could be redirected to the increase and hold the price while supply chain and other issues affected by the pandemic correct themselves.”
Referring to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and alleged rental contracts, Alexander said millions of dollars could be redirected to buffering costs to the consumer.
“When prices return to normal, those millions could be used elsewhere to make life easier for those struggling to cope with the economic fallout of Covid-19,” he stated.
On Thursday, both the National Flour Mills NFM and the Ministry of Trade and Industry issued releases on the reduced percentage increase of the price of flour following consultations. NFM had initially proposed a 19% increase in the Hibiscus brand which has been reduced to 10%. The Ibis brand has a two per cent reduction from the initial 19% proposed increase.
