THE EDITOR: Listening to the comments on the 2022/23 budget one thing jumps out – the optics.

What do I mean by the optics?

I mean that the call by the PM and others to use public transport and to car pool would be much more acceptable if they themselves did likewise. Even if it’s once a week or once a month, use the public transport and experience the horrors that the citizens go through daily. They must let the public see them using the service they are asking us to use. Stop and offer someone at the side of the road a drop.

They must not drive, or should I say bully, their way through traffic jams using their security detail to clear the way for them in their heavily tinted vehicles. They must wait in the traffic like everyone else.

While travelling around, even if it’s once or twice a month, they must do so without their security detail and feel the anguish/fear the ordinary man feels.

They must put a cap on the perks received, even if for a specified period.

You see, the man in the street sees all the above happening while they are being asked to accept different standards. As we say in local parlance, “How it go look?”

One will be surprised at the difference these small steps will make when asking the population to adjust. The budget does not affect the lifestyles of the above-average citizen or successful businessman, it affects the “small man” most and his views/opinions are not represented by the different chambers at post-budget meetings.

That’s what I mean by optics.

RICHARD TRESTRAIL

via e-mail

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