Dear BP,
On 14th October 2024, I wrote a letter to the Editor, Time to Jail Price Gougers. I emphasised that “Although price controls exist for many items, price gouging affects many areas of commerce, which Bahamians navigate with trepidation each day. This is not a problem we can afford to ignore. While we were distracted by trying to stretch our dollars to feed our families, the gougers were up to no good in all other areas, such as furniture, household goods, clothing, medicine, medical services, vision care, airline tickets, you name it, price gouging can be detected”.
So, what has the Consumer Protection Commission, the regulatory body responsible for ensuring fair trade practices and protecting consumers from exploitation, done since then? It attacked over-the-counter (OTC) sellers who allegedly sold outdated products. This received a well-deserved rebuke from pharmacists, who are well-regulated and have a robust system of self-regulation and self-assessments. Perhaps the commission’s time would be better spent if it adopted the practice of other countries where the purchase of more than two aspirins requires the guidance of a registered pharmacist.
Then, mom-and-pop stores and other places with a robust OTC business selling items that can seriously interact with prescribed medications can focus on dispensing something they are qualified to do, like condoms. Then, we had the commission reacting without much investigation to Amazon and DHL home delivery to Bahamians. This arrangement reduces the cost of items, and any cost savings for Bahamians should be welcomed, not placed under threat. Those of us who used Amazon services and had an item delivered for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, know that we are being ripped off.
If you are detecting an attention-focused area here, that’s because there is a theme. None of the recent pronouncements have anything to do with food prices, which is the focus of all Bahamians. In my earlier letter to BP, I suggested that commission staff leave their air-conditioned offices, jump into the cars supplied by Bahamian taxpayers, and conduct some serious price control and anti-price gouging investigations.
Even as I wrote that, I knew it was a waste of time. Beyond collecting a salary, these fellows have shown no interest in investigating despite the severe threat to the government. Now I know that the government has no control over inflation because we import virtually every morsel of food we consume. But the same cannot be said about failing to lock up store owners who appear determined to price us into poverty. This is a situation that cannot continue.
Now, I have a problem with people presenting information to the public without proper research, so I researched to confirm my suspicions of price gouging or other untoward activities by store owners.
I randomly selected one item that all Bahamians use when baking their pies, either at Christmas or Thanksgiving. I discovered that the prices of some of the same items across three stores ranged from $6.99 to an eyewatering $9.99. This is not just a matter of a few dollars but significantly impacts our daily lives. I know the old justification about shipping costs, etc., but these were larger stores that imported in bulk. So, I checked customs and discovered that this particular item was tariff-free.
Now, I discovered this within one hour of sniffing around. Who knows what other price horrors await us as Christmas approaches?
So, I don’t want to hear excuses from people who refuse to carry out their mandates and transfer the results of their laziness and lackadaisical performance into unrelenting criticism of the Minister and Government.
If you are unwilling or unable to do the work, park our cars and let people interested in justice and fairness drive them.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Brown
