By KABS KANU
Some SALONE people ignorant tay, e sorry. How can any sensible and serious person compare prices of food, rent and basic commodities today with what they were 10 years ago ?
Our educational system may have declined but they used to teach ECONOMICS before in schools. Only illiterate people who never went to school do not know that prices do not remain stagnant . SLPP supporters claim to be educated, but the ignorance they display at times is frightening.
Why are they comparing the cost of living between 2007 and now ? Did they expect food and living costs to remain fixed for 10 years ? Where in the world have prices remained the same, even for two years ?
Let us talk about America, the land of opportunity; the most prosperous country in the world. Even here, prices have escalated spectacularly between 2007 and now . You will no longer get the same things today that $100 got for you 10 years ago. Where $100 was enough 10 years ago, you now have to spend $400-500 in some cases or even $1,000. Ten years ago, you could go the supermarket and get groceries to feed your family, with $100. Today, you need to spend between $500 and above if you want your family to eat a decent meal.
10 years ago, you could get a 2 0r 3 room apartment here for $500 -600 in downscale apartment complexes like Edgemere or Finchley Gardens. .Today, you cannot even get a one room apartment below $1, 500. For a two-room apartment, you must be ready to pay $2,000 or more. I am talking about low-level apartment complexes. Today, you will not get any upscale apartment for less than $3,000.
10 years ago, you could buy a new or very good used car without depositing anything and your monthly payment could be between $200 to $300. But today, forget it. You will have to deposit between $3, 000 to 4,000 if it is a very good used car. But there is no way you can buy a new car without first depositing $5,000. Your monthly payment for a good used car is between $600 and above and $800-$1,000 for a new car.
Do you want to hear about how tuition has gone up in 10 years in America ? It has gone up by 300% or more.
Therefore , it is plain idiocy for SLPP supporters to be comparing prices between 2007 and 2018. Even illiterate people know that prices do not remain stagnant or fixed. They are ever rising and with wages not moving up, I at times sit down and worry for my children and grandchildren for the kind of world they will live in in 20 years.
Cost of living has jumped in Sierra Leone, as it has done everywhere but our country is still less expensive, compared to her neighbors like Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria etc.
Playing politics with prices of basic commodities is cheap, ignorant and idiotic. Only people with demented minds like those peddling it will buy the contrasts and comparison.Even fools know that in 10 years they will not buy the same commodity at the price they are paying for it today.
