Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

High cost to live! $100 now only gets you one bag at the store - Smith

High cost to live! $100 now only gets you one bag at the store - Smith

Territorial At-Large Representative Neville Smith has suggested that there may be too much fluctuation in the prices of items on the shelves of grocery stores today.

“If the price is $6 now, tonight, in the morning, the price is $8. Then the next day, the price change again,” Smith told legislators while speaking in the House of Assembly (HOA) recently.

Elected officials were at the time debating an extension to a reduction in Customs duties to ease the cost-of-living burden being experienced by residents amidst rising global prices.

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley assured at the time that his government will design a system that will ensure concessions given to businesses — to provide relief to consumers — will be passed on to those consumers.

“We’ll look at a specific basket of goods that we want to provide some relief for, not necessarily luxury items, etcetera, and we’ll ensure that those savings are passed on,” the Premier said.

Smith, in the meantime, argued that unless legislators put mitigation measures in place to keep an eye on what is taking place, such price fluctuations will continue to happen again.

“You cannot go in the supermarket and buy anything for $100 anymore. With $100, you come away with one bag,” Smith stated. “So we have to make sure that this happens because there’s a lot of people really suffering over this.”

“I’m a business person as well, I have to pay the taxes. I have to pay the duty,” he stated. “But we have to make sure that when we get this break, we also give the break to the customers. We have to.”

Not a ‘one step dance’


Smith also told legislators that the process could not be a ‘one-step dance’, arguing that legislators need to remain focused on the issue in order to ensure it is fixed.

“Sometimes you might have to make some adjustments, but we can’t expect just to come to this House and pass it; give the five per cent and expect it going to work, just like that,” Smith stated.

He continued: “It’s not going to. This is something that we need to keep on and we need to have reports coming on how it’s being done, how it’s working. We have to follow it.”

Smith urged his fellow legislators to ensure they continue to monitor and to ensure that the government’s promised 5 per cent reduction in duty “reaches where it’s supposed to go”.

“There’s a lot of people suffering in this place. Prices are really ridiculous,” Smith said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×