KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Spokesman on Energy Phillip Paulwell says that the just released petrol price index by Petrojam Limited effective today, indicates that there has been a 40 per cent increase to the Jamaican consumer over the past 15 months.

In a release this afternoon, Paulwell argued that while petrol prices do fluctuate in response to market conditions, since the beginning of the year the trend in Jamaica has been an upward spiral and has been made even more pronounced since the imposition of the new tax measures.“The ill-conceived and massive tax on petrol and petroleum products recently implemented by the Government has definitely exacerbated the problem and its effect has begun to hurt the average Jamaican,” Paulwell noted.Quoting figures from January 2017, Paulwell pointed out that “Gasoline 87 has moved from a low of $96.16 to a high of $113.66 as at June 1, 2017, and Gasoline 90 has jumped from $97.82 to $116.50 over the same period.”He added that these point to a widening of the price gap between the two grades of fuel and a very sharp upward climb of both, with their corresponding and acknowledged negative impact on all sector and facet of the society.“As the current atmosphere of hardship and uncertainty in this country deepens, it is a direct result of government’s attempt to fulfil a miscalculated election promise, which has now manifested itself by way of the burdensome new indirect taxes falling on a much wider pool of Jamaicans especially the poor,” Paulwell said.“The most vulnerable in our society are under severe survival pressure as a result of the burden of the new indirect taxes and the announced increase in the budget for the PATH and School Feeding Programmes will not suffice, as many of these folks do not qualify for these PATH benefits,” he added.According to the opposition speaker, already, the imposition of the taxation on fuels is triggering untold hardship and the real prospect of runaway inflation and given the widespread use of fuel, the additional taxes imposed will negatively impact many activities including the cost of public and private transportation, the haulage of goods, electricity generation and manufacturing generally. These in turn will have a negative impact across the economy, crippling the wellbeing of all Jamaicans.