WE have been hearing for some time now about the plans to reintroduce the payment of property tax and of increases in the electricity and water rates, so why did the ‘gimme gimme’ section of our population that wants everything for nothing not begin to prepare for the introduction of those increases, rather than continuing to feel ‘entitled’?

Some have mansions here and feel they must pay no property taxes, but they have no choice but to pay those taxes on their properties in the USA.

Why could people not have begun setting aside money in their budgets for these increases so as not to be caught ‘flat footed’ now?

Since the Regulated Industries Commission announced the proposed new electricity rates, a number of individuals, who do not even understand the charts the commission put out, have been talking the loudest and misleading the people into believing that they will have to pay 100 per cent more on their bills over a two-month period; in other words, the amount they pay with the two-monthly cycle, they will be required to pay when the change is made to monthly billing. This is far from the truth.

Some of those who are making the most noise about the increases are the ones who, most likely, would have paid for their costumes already for next year’s Carnival; or who could be seen at the fireworks stores at the end of the year buying thousands of dollars in fireworks to go up in smoke on Old Year’s Night. Here is an example of how privileged we have been with respect to the electricity we use: In the early 1980s I lived in an ordinary three-bedroom house in the North with the regular simple appliances, and with no water heater, washing machine, electric stove, water pump, nor air conditioner. My electricity bill then (in 1981) was just about $24 per two-month cycle (US$10 at the time). The prevailing exchange rate was $2.40 to the US dollar. When I moved into my own house with an air conditioner, water pump, water heater, a larger refrigerator, washing machine, clothes dryer, and with dusk-to-dawn lights around my house, my electricity bill jumped four-fold to about $98 on the two-month cycle (US$40).

Shortly thereafter, I moved to one of the other Caribbean islands to work and I occupied a simple three-bedroom house with an electric stove, water heater and a water pump, as opposed to what I had in Trinidad in my own house.

With those few appliances, my electric bill there averaged US$100 ($240) per month, so that I moved from paying $100 in Trinidad for two months to US$200 ($480) for the same period.

On moving to yet another Caribbean Island afterwards, I got a shock when my water bill arrived after my first month there, all because the water pressure was great and I decided to fill the bathtub a few times that month to enjoy a ‘soak’.

While I do not recall what my first monthly metered water bill looked like, the shock of the figure on it ensured that I never filled that tub again and that I used the water in the shower instead and did so sparingly.

I hope I have made my points.

Clyde Alphonso