Philipsburg:--- Member of Parliament George Pantophlet is calling on government to enforce the rules particularly with regards to the Division of Economic control. It has been almost 20 years since the responsibility of the controls on pricing were transferred by the former Netherlands Antilles government to St. Maarten. It would be interesting to acquire information on how much control was done on the 12 items during this period. But he is guessing that the control would have been based on how the economy was doing. As promised, the Member of Parliament is listing the 12 products that are on government's maximum pricing list that should be controlled by the Division of Economic Control which are as follows: rice, margarine, table butter, powder milk, canned milk, baby cereal, sweet oil, coffee, tea, flour, sugar and corn meal. Maximum prices should be placed on these items more so because they represent our basic necessities. There are also some non government controlled items such as perishable goods for example, meats including chicken, vegetables and fruits. The Member of Parliament says he understands that the establishments involved in this business have to make profits but it is the responsibility of government to protect the consumers from rapidly increasing prices. We are in the slow season which means layoffs are taking place, working hours are being reduced. This translates into the need for an increase in financial assistance which means that government has to pay out more. One does not need to be an economist or a rocket science to figure this out. Simply put people can't even afford to put food on their table not to mention pay their rent, electricity and water bills. The goal is to give the consumers some kind of buying power.
Philipsburg:--- Member of Parliament George Pantophlet is calling on government to enforce the rules particularly with regards to the Division of Economic control. It has been almost 20 years since the responsibility of the controls on pricing were transferred by the former Netherlands Antilles government to St. Maarten. It would be interesting to acquire information on how much control was done on the 12 items during this period. But he is guessing that the control would have been based on how the economy was doing. As promised, the Member of Parliament is listing the 12 products that are on government's maximum pricing list that should be controlled by the Division of Economic Control which are as follows: rice, margarine, table butter, powder milk, canned milk, baby cereal, sweet oil, coffee, tea, flour, sugar and corn meal. Maximum prices should be placed on these items more so because they represent our basic necessities. There are also some non government controlled items such as perishable goods for example, meats including chicken, vegetables and fruits. The Member of Parliament says he understands that the establishments involved in this business have to make profits but it is the responsibility of government to protect the consumers from rapidly increasing prices. We are in the slow season which means layoffs are taking place, working hours are being reduced. This translates into the need for an increase in financial assistance which means that government has to pay out more. One does not need to be an economist or a rocket science to figure this out. Simply put people can't even afford to put food on their table not to mention pay their rent, electricity and water bills. The goal is to give the consumers some kind of buying power.