AM I the only person in our sweet little island of Jamaica noticing that fuel prices at the pump and on our ‘favourite’ utility bill, have been steadily creeping up over the last few months. As a matter of fact forget creeping…talk about leaping and jumping out of control. How come? Please pardon my ignorance as I have stated time and time again that I am not the most informed or educated person on current affairs or any subject for that matter, but from my limited eavesdropping on bar gossip, it would seem that oil prices are trending down. So why are we paying more for the stuff? I’d be lying if I wrote that I’ve never witnessed a reduction. My utility service provider sent me a letter some months ago offering a refund, because of a drop in oil prices. But since then, my bill has almost doubled, to the point where I’m now in the process of starting a fund to return the rebate to them since that act of ‘generosity’ is apparently the cause of the swell in my bill, as my consumption has not increased. I’ve also witnessed on rare occasions when the gas station I frequent, grudgingly applied a one or two dollar price reduction one week, but this was just smoke and mirrors as the price jumped back up by five or six dollars the following week. How come we are just sitting down idly and allowing this to continue? How come?

Not that I’m suggesting history repeat itself, but if memory serves me correctly, some time ago we locked down the country for gas prices that were far lower than these reigning today. As my artiste friend, Es Kae, (With swagger like this) told me the other day “Five thousand dollar fill my tank and then hell and powder house for all the other bills”. Me and him in the same boat. It has got to the point where I have now been put in the position that if and when I have to go somewhere with my big gainfully unemployed self, I utilise that trip to cover all bases along that route so I maximise on my fuel usage. No joke, one time gone I was the designated driver for all of my non-car-owning friends. Not anymore, that get cut, especially if you live outside of the route I’m taking to get to the club, find your way there. As a matter of fact, commuters can attest to seeing me regularly on public transportation without fear or remorse; because it is cheaper I park my jalopy and hold a route taxi with five or six other people for a ‘bills’ than drive to my destination. Snicker if you want, laugh if you must, but that is my reality and I’m not alone. You know how much time I see some ‘well to do’ uptown people queuing up way below the clock, down by Beechwood Avenue and at the pumps at Heroes Circle to buy gas, because it is a little cheaper at these locations.

But seriously, I’m sure Trafigura was here mining crude oil and selling it to Nigeria on our behalf, and that we buy oil from our neighbours in the Caribbean, so how come the cost to us as a people is still so astounding? We have also supposedly switched to the cleaner, cheaper, potato biogas affectionately called E-10, which should have resulted in lower pump prices yet that is not what is happening. Can someone explain?

Mek wi link, put pressure to bear from the powers that be and bring the energy cost down.

Follow me on Twitter @ElvaJamaica or email elvachatalot@yahoo.com Have a great weekend.