MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester North Western Mikael Phillips says while the Bank of Jamaica is projecting for inflation to peak in June between 12 and 15 per cent, Jamaicans are already suffering from very high prices.

He criticised the Government for not doing enough to ease the harsh and painful economic crisis being faced by Jamaicans.

“If the governor of the Bank of Jamaica can say that inflation is going to get to 15 per cent, he is expecting it. When the Bank of Jamaica a see it at 15 per cent in another two months or so, we a feel it pon the ground already. It is over 20 per cent on the ground,” he said.

“When I ask some of my constituents how many times a week dem can eat a cooked meal, sometimes [for] some families it’s only once a week. Sometimes none,” he said at the People’s National Party’s John’s Hall Divisional Conference in Manchester Saturday.

Phillips, who is the only sitting Opposition MP in Manchester and St Elizabeth, said the allocation for food packages is woefully inadequate.

“And if the Government think seh the only response dem can do is by looking on an MP and give me food package that is not enough, because when I get $3 million fi do food package, [it] can only do 600 food packages and I have 40,000 residents living in northwest Manchester,” he said.

He added that the taxi operators and farmers are among many Jamaicans severely affected by inflation.

“Me feel it for the taxi driver dem, because dem cyaah raise the fare, otherwise dem call dem criminal, thief, [and say] dem a rob the commuter. And me understand the commuter cyaah pay more, but when you paying $230 at the pump per litre and your revenue not changing…It’s [because it’s] the only thing dem can do to put food on dem table why some of dem nuh come off the road,” he said.

“You hear mi seh $40 a pound for Irish [potato] but nuff of the farmer dem not even a mek nuh money dem only a plant it to just turn over a money right away, because every week fertiliser going up,” he added.

“If you can buy the fertiliser, you can’t buy the spray and the only thing mi can hear my minister of agriculture (Pearnel Charles Jr) a talk about is that we are growing. Growing where?” he asked.

Phillips also took Prime Minister Andrew Holness to task for what he claimed is a lack of infrastructural development in rural Jamaica.

“The country is in serious leadership trouble. If Andrew Holness feels that by building two highways it is going to solve Jamaica’s problem, tell him fi come a country come see how country people live,” said Phillips.

“Tell him to come a Manchester where is only 30 per cent of households having running water. Tell him fi come and see that every single school in Manchester is overpopulated. Tell him fi come a country and see how bush up the roads are and how pothole a kill we,” he added.

“… Because dem feel like Montego Bay or Kingston is Jamaica alone,” he said.