The rising costs of living in the country is said to be ravaging the nation, leaving low income earners at debt every day.
Speaking to the paper, a concerned mother expressed her everyday frustrations to earn bread and butter on the table.
The mother stated that living in Honiara is too expensive to cope with, considering the price of goods in shops were of low quality but sold at high prices.
“I cannot afford healthy lifestyle for my children because expenses of meeting all basic needs and wants of the family is far beyond what I could earn in a fortnight,” she said.
“It is of great concern to me that locally produce food sold at the market is expensive than imported food sold in the shops,” she added.
The mother stated that she tries to cope with the high cost of living by selling betel nut during her unofficial hours at work, but said that it is still difficult to earn money since almost every people in Honiara resort to selling betel nut, as a means of affording the expenses of their survival.
One concern man also raised his complain by requesting the government of the day to address the problem, since it has been ripping off little income of Honiara dwellers.
Recently the Permanent Secretary (PS) for the Ministry of Commerce, Labour, Industries and Immigration (MCILI) Hence Vaekesa appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where he was asked to explain the high cost of goods in the shops.
“My ministry is handicapped,” PS Vaekesa replied to the question asked by PAC members.
Vaekesa said that his Ministry is handicapped when it comes to dealing with controlling of goods’ prices in the shops.
However, the PS response was slammed by one struggling person who strives to cope with life in town.
“His response shows how irresponsible a person entrusted to head that Ministry was,” the concern man stated. “He is unfit to take up the job, but yet bid for renewal of his contract job with the same ministry,” the concern man stressed.
“This is sick,” he added. “If he said that his Ministry is handicapped to deal with the problem then that’s obviously corruption in broad daylight,” he further stated.
He further added that costs of electricity and water is far too expensive, therefore exhausted the little money we earn and the situation continue to force us to borrow money for food and bus fare is really killing us, and put us further in debt.
Moreover, he said that it is time for the Democratic Coalition for Change (DCC) government to do something to revive the work of the responsible ministry dealing with prices of goods in shops, by liberating us from the handicapped status, which the PS was referring to in his answer to the PAC.
By AATAI JOHN