Opiyo Oloya
10 June 2008
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Kampala — PERSPECTIVE OF A UGANDAN IN CANADA
The saying, "What goes up must come down" may not apply to the escalating price of oil. In fact, one barrel of crude oil registered the biggest jump last Friday, spiking up by as much $10.75 in a single day to settle at 139.12 dollars in New York and 138.12 dollars in London.
There are tough days ahead, and things are about to get downright ugly for the consumer-that is you and me. Already the air turbulence created by skyrocketing oil prices is buffeting the airline industry.
Last week, Continental Airline, the fourth largest US carrier, announced the elimination of about 3,000 jobs, or 6.7% of its staff, and the grounding of 67 aircraft to cut costs stemming from record oil and fuel prices. A smaller layoff was announced a day earlier by United Airlines which plans to ground 100 planes. Other airlines will likely follow with further announcements of job losses.
Other fallouts include massive layoffs in the automotive industry as demands weaken for the big gas-guzzling vans and monster SUVs that had grown popular in suburban North America and European cities. General Motors, Chrysler and Ford once the big three in the automobile industry continue layoffs and closing of several automobile plants that make vehicles nobody wants anymore.
Everyone is looking for meaner and leaner Japanese imports that sip gasoline a drop at a time. The oil crisis, in simple words, is no longer just something out there, but something in here, affecting every decision we make regarding the food we eat and how we get from point A to point B.
I knew that the price of gas was getting out of hand when the old Toyota Corolla (yep, I still drive the dinosaur which has now clocked 478,000 kilometres) began to fill up at $50 dollars.
When I bought the dank thing 10 years ago, a full tank set me back a mere $23 dollars or so. Of course the behemoth that is the family van now fills up at $90 for a full-tank. We don't drive it anywhere anymore, relying instead on that old Corolla. Of course when we get where we are going, it is often prohibitively expensive to buy anything.
Food prices are increasing by the hour because of the cost of trucking produce from the farm to the marketplace. A 10- pound bag of Basmati rice at Kohindoor's on Gerrard Street East in Toronto now costs us nearly $17. A year ago, the same amount bought two bags. The Indian owner who lived in my hometown of Gulu in the 1960s, shrugs and says in perfect Luo, "Lutuwa, watimo nining do? (My clansman, what can we do?).
Meanwhile, international travel already expensive is about to get downright unaffordable to air travellers. The new mantra will not be the "global village" but rather the "global peninsula" where people are stuck in their small corners of the world, completely cut off from physical contact except through communication media. Flying will become the exclusive purview of the rich who can afford such indulgence.
This week was especially frustrating trying to get something affordable for a journey this summer to Uganda. The new reality is painful. Consider that four years ago, a discounted no-frill economy return ticket from Toronto to Entebbe via London was a mere $1700. Now the same trip costs an average of $3342 with barely the same level of services.
Next year, the cost of air-travel on the same route will likely top $5000 for economy class with no meals provided. Naturally, this is a big concern for my family because we are planning a trip home next year.
With rising jet-fuel, flying economy from Toronto to Kenya or Uganda as the case maybe for two adults and two children will likely set us back $17,000. That is serious money that requires a lot of thought before burning it all up in jet-fuel to cross the ocean.
Now from an environmental point of view, the rising cost of oil can only mean one thing-less toxic fumes being released in the atmosphere. As people find alternatives to driving (many in big cities like Toronto are taking up car-pooling, biking, taking public transit, and even walking to work), there is long term hope for cleaner air.
Though it may take a decade for the environment to register the good change, it may be our last chance as the human race to reverse the destructive impact of pollution on climate change.
Now, put in that context, huge oil prices may be easy to swallow at the pump. But still, one does hope that oil prices will come down to what they were just a few scant weeks ago, let alone what they were last year. But don't hold your breath.
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