|
Business Leaders Say Now Is The
Time for the Government to Act
on High Gasoline Cost
The high cost of gasoline is on
everyone's mind is everyone's
concern. Yesterday, Costa Ricans
were met with the fourth
increase in the cost of gasoline
this year and the results are
evident with less cars on the
road and light traffic
congestion at peak hours.
It used to be that the afternoon
drive out of San José was a
nightmare between the hours of
4:30pm and 6:30pm. Now, the same
drive west to Escazú and beyond
is a breeze. As well, daytime
traffic in and out downtown
could frazzle the best of
nerves. The last two days,
estimates by taxi and bus
drivers, say that they have seen
more than a 20% decrease in the
number of vehicles on the road.
For their part, representatives
of the Unión Costarricense de
Cámaras y Asociaciones de
Empresa Privada (UCCAEP) have
made a call to the government
and especially the president to
put urgently put into place a
plan to save the use of gasoline
and thus reduce inflation.
Carlos Quesada, executive
director of the UCCAEP,
explained that inflation in the
first three months of this year
reached 13.7%. higher than the
average of 13.1% forecast for
the entire year and the highest
in the last eight years.
Quesada attributes the high
inflation directly to the high
cost of gasoline.
The price of a barrel of crude
oil on world markets passed
us$52 dollar yesterday. The
UCCAEP says that now is the time
to act with a short and long
term plan.
The UCCAEP is suggesting that
part of the government's plans
to combat the high cost of
gasoline is to reorganize the
direction of some of the streets
in San José and other places and
reactive the trains.
|
|
