Fuel prices: nowhere to go but up
At the beginning of the month the increase in the General Sales tax kicked in. It went up to twelve and a half percent taking the cost of living even higher. And if that is putting a licking on consumers, fuel prices jumped another notch higher on Tuesday night with diesel up by twenty four cents at eight sixty. A gallon of premium gas now costs nine dollars and ninety five cents, up by six cents and regular remains at nine fifty six. Kerosene is also up by thirty two cents at seven dollars and four cents a gallon. The constantly rising fuel prices are hitting local taxi drivers hard. While some of the taxi drivers did not want to comment on camera, they did tell us that the increase is hurting their pockets. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Dinsdale Zelaya and Michael Flowers are two of the bold taxi drivers who were not afraid or ashamed to express how the rising fuel prices will affect their business.
Dinsdale Zelaya, Taxi Driver
“Yoh done di run fi wah small rate and den if di gas goh up more yoh might want raise soh yoh cud meet yoh demands but den yoh can’t raise because people ride less then. Ih throw off business big. Di only good day right now is maybe round payday, people got wah lee money fi cut round soh yoh might mek a little bit more dan right now but otherwise from dat.”
Michael Flowers, Taxi Driver
michael flowers
“Ih kill me because I have to goh ten miles every day. When I buy wah gallon ah gas dah like I buy three gallon cause dah one lee gallon dah one lee job and dat done, yoh know weh ah mean? I di run out ah gas too straight. When time yoh give dehn ten dollars, yoh noh get wah gallon ah gas. Like how we have oil, why fi we gas can’t goh down lee cheaper fi help di poor. If the prime minister want help we why ih noh start from di gas?”
Bus driver
“Di gas prices kinda rough right now because coming from the west is ridiculous because the government need to raise up on the bus fare soh we could do what we gotta do.”
The high costs have caused taxi drivers to curtail as much as they can on buying gas.
Marion Ali
“Do you buy smaller vehicles, do you…”
dinsdale zelaya
Dinsdale Zelaya
“Dat dah weh yoh have to do, yoh have to try get di smallest yoh cud. My car dah four cylinder, GEO Prism and ih noh bon too bad but still ah feel it.”
Marion Ali
“So now taxi fare is what?”
Dinsdale Zelaya
“Six dollars. We would like to go to seven but wi might lose customers.”
Marion Ali
“Do you find that people take the bus a lot?”
Dinsdale Zelaya
“Yeah, plenty people ride did bus now, dehn noh bother wid taxi much.”
But while taxi and bus drivers are feeling the effects of the increasing prices, people who operate the pumps say sales have not gone down. Marion Ali for News Five.
i see no comment cause really commenting here never pays up. since looks like the p.m never reads the local news that is posted in the internet or honeslty don’t give a s$%t about the out cry of we Belizeans. he must be cool in his house in a.c and with a driven when we are thinking how to make ends meet so that we have enough to put for the gas the is really high in price. At this point in time recession is not the excuse they should rely on for eexcuses. dean barroww help your belizean people or your P.M time is being counted to reach the last day of you 5 year period.
The price of gas has really gone up, WAY UP, you would think that with the little bit of oil found in Belize, transprtation, water & elecricity would fall to say $5/gal which is still a little high, knowing the consumption of energy and highway costs. The govenment was NOT JOKING when they said COST OF LIVING is gonna go down, they meant YOU WILL HAVE TO DIG DEEPER into your pockets.
This government always want to take the easy way out when it comes to solving a dilema. It seems to them that by billing the people with higher taxes, that will solve the ecomonic problems we are in….Ha!! ..that won’t work. The UDP too lazy to come up with something creative and original to slove the problem. Or is it the UDP has become played out and has sourrounded themselves with a set of stupid ,incompetent,ignorant people who don’t know what the hell they are doing? If the everyday man and woman nowadays have to cut corners in their household budgets to make ends meet, then i suggest the government do the same by cutting those high salaries being payed out to ministers and high officials. I hear them talk the talk but i’m yet to see them walk the walk. The ministers should be setting the example for change if they are forcing us to tighten our belts then they should do the same. The only once crying are the poor while the rich sit back and smirk while looking down on us.