Ever since Mark Phillips was installed PPP Prime Minion, he has been nothing but a Churchillian riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. For how else can one rationalise, an impossible undertaking admittedly, the better standard of living garbage, which recently exited his mouth? In fact, our standard of living, more akin to standard of dying, has been getting increasingly and depressingly worse, as the days are counted under this installed government. Yet this PPP Prime Minion, suited, booted but sadly not muted, tried pulling wool over our eyes, in arguing that our standard of living has been phenomenal over the past 4yrs.
But phenomenal is far from our reality, with we the masses struggling to afford basic commodities, necessary to just about stay alive. However, this the aforestated, stands in conflict with what the Prime Minion has propagandised. As a result, to resolve this conflict, the Oxford Dictionary shall be researched, to provide clarity to the term, standard of living. And having researched the gold standard dictionary, we come to recognise, standard of living speaks to, “The degree of wealth and material comfort available to a person or community.” Thus, armed with this meaning, we shall explore the statistics on the wealth and material comfort of the masses, under this installed government.
However, the statistics make very painful reading, with 50% of the population suffering on less than US$5.50 a day, a marker of severe poverty. And with this poverty level, it’s hardly surprising that our children are severely malnourished, at levels highest in this hemisphere. In fact, even developing foetus in the womb are exposed to PPP hardship, with them representing the highest rates of underweight and premature babies, also in this hemisphere. Then there is the unemployment rate, standing at 12.43%, which when compared to Trinidad’s and Jamaica’s 3.81% and 4.4% respectively, evidence that under this installed government, we have one of the worst unemployment in the Caribbean.
Furthermore, these dire statistics which pertain to the standard of living, or rather standard of academic achievement of our children. Where based on recent results, less than 40% of our children gained passes in maths and english, subjects critically important for their future aspirations. Moreover, functional literacy stands at a record low of 40%, while childhood literacy is at a depressing 50%. In fact, when these statistics are examined in the context of PPP 50% school dropout rate, it can be confidently concluded that our children standard of academic achievement, which mirrors standard of living, represents serious cause for concern.
Thus, we revisit standard of living which speaks to wealth and material comfort, to enquire of this PPP Prime Minion, if these statistics are indicative of wealth and comfort for the masses? For evidence in these statistics is a failing installed government, yet PPP would try to hoodwink us into believing, since they’ve been installed, our streets have been paved gold. When the reality is, our healthcare is in crisis, with high maternal and neonatal mortalities, even as we have the lowest life expectancy. Moreover, the masses on a minimum wage of US$300, are burdened by a cost-of-living crisis, such that the average many cannot place food on their tables, much-less own their own homes. Then there is spiralling crime, with those tasked with protecting are themselves perpetrators.
And now depressingly, the electricity sector, not dissimilar to the Sugar Industry, representing a major PPP goadee, with more blackouts than that of a drunkard. Besides, our teachers are literally beseeching this installed government, for a liveable wage, counting over six months. Finally, our children are burdened with a nearly 3yrs learning loss, underpinning their poor examination results. In fact, these the aforementioned, represent a fraction of the hardship we endure under this installed government, yet Mark Phillips, PPP Prime Minion, would argue that life under this installed government is of milk and honey.
