People are paying more for basic food items than what they were paying a few months ago.
A random survey conducted on food items sold in supermarkets along the Suva-Nausori corridor revealed the cost of flour, rice, sugar, and cooking oil, among other food items, had increased steeply.
Bal Krishna, a 61-year-old woman from Baulevu in Nausori, said she was concerned about the rapid increase in basic food item prices.
She said her son was the sole breadwinner in her family, who gave her $100 every week to buy food for the family. Ms Krishna said the prices of basic food items were “too much”.
“There are six of us in the family and we have two kids who are in school,” she said. “I can’t purchase basic food items in large quantities like I used to before because my son works on a poultry farm and he does not earn much money. “This is a real struggle and I know of families and even neighbours who are struggling to put food on their table.”
Lalita Naidu echoed similar sentiments. She said her husband was a taxidriver and her son worked as a barber.
Ms Naidu said the cost of basic food items was taking its toll on poor families in Suva, as some were forced to forego a meal.
She said this was an area that the Government should look into because a majority of families in Fiji were struggling to put food on the table.
