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Poverty to Prosperity
Budget Presentation
Gordon House March 19, 2015
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Mr. Speaker, as you can see the differences are stark. Not only has the purchasing power of
$3000 been diminished, but the Jamaican people have had to be change the kinds of goods
they usually purchase..
Mr. Speaker, many Jamaicans are no longer able to purchase a loaf of bread or even „Half-
A-Bread‟. Bread is now sold by the slice in many communities.
Mr. Speaker, the impoverishment of our people has gotten worse since 2012.
People are no longer talking about „Oxtail and Curry Goat‟. As a matter of fact,
chicken back is now priced way above the means of many Jamaicans. What
many are forced to buy these days is „fish back‟.
Mr. Speaker, in 2011 a bottle of cooking oil could be purchased for $148. Today, that same
bottle has virtually doubled in price. Many Jamaicans have now been forced to buy oil
retailed in bags.
You can see right away that $3,000 in 2011 gets you a bigger basket of goods than $3,000
today under the stewardship of the Portia Simpson Government. This is just a graphic
representation of the rhetorical question.
Are You Better-off Now Than You Were 3 years ago?