The damage to public property

May 18, 2008 Editorial

The destruction of property is almost as worrying as the crime situation, and it is time that something drastic is done. We keep hearing that stray animals caused vehicles to crash, sometimes with loss of life and the destruction of the vehicles. This was the case, recently, on the Upper East Coast Demerara Public Road. On the East Bank of Demerara, sometimes on the Corentyne Highway, and even on the West Demerara Highway, we come across these wandering obstacles, sometimes early enough to avoid a collision, but too often, at nights when visibility is at its worst.

As the law stands, the owners of wandering livestock that cause accidents could be prosecuted, but the extent of prosecution leaves a lot to be desired. In the first instance, many of the animals are unbranded, so that it is difficult to prove ownership. In other cases, the owners could be among the first at the accident, and they could easily remove the brand, so that identification of the animal proves difficult.
Also proving to be worrying is the disregard people are displaying for public property. These days it is as if some motorists are bent on obliterating every traffic light, installed at great cost to reduce road accident. Indeed, at one time Guyana was perhaps the only country in the modern world that had no traffic lights in its capital. At a cost of some US$2 million, and with money borrowed from India, lights were erected with features that allowed motorists to appreciate just how long they would have to wait at lights.
Indiscipline took over, and some people began to use streets that would help them avoid the lights. Even the various forms of public transport resorted to driving outside their routes. Impatience was also a feature that reared its ugly head. Many people, on approaching the lights, refused to wait for periods ranging from thirty seconds to ninety seconds, the length of time it takes to walk no more than 100 metres. And there were people who justified accidents at the traffic lights by blaming the length of time it took for motorists to wait. These people argue that if a motorist feels that he has to wait too long, then he has a right to accelerate as fast as he could from the albatross. This has caused numerous accidents. Just this past week three vehicles collided at a junction that has seen more than its share of accidents. One of the vehicles, piloted by a diplomat, as well as a privately owned car, slammed into another that was crossing the intersection. It was clear that the diplomat and the private car had been sitting at the lights waiting for the change. The other motorist claimed that they jumped the light and slammed into him, because he had the green light.

If the truth be told, the members of the foreign diplomatic community have come from a disciplined society, in which the penalty for traffic infractions can be as severe as huge fines and even jail. That the diplomat jumped the light is hard to swallow, but that was the reason the third car offered.

The Police say that they have zero tolerance for traffic offenders, especially some horrific accidents which claimed multiple lives toward the end of last year, but while they have made numerous prosecutions, they still seem unable to effect attitudinal change. Why should a cattle farmer not control his cattle? The National Assembly recently passed legislation designed to improve the behaviour of the cattle farmers, but nothing has changed. All that the legislation has done is to reinforce the right to slaughter a pig found in private property. And so we come back to the issue of people being responsible for whatever they have using the roads. In the heart of the city we often see cows, some walking along the median at dead of night, some of the animals so dark that they are all but invisible to approaching traffic.

But there is another side to this. Motorists tend to speed, and most of those who actually collide with stray animals—if indeed animals wending their way home could be considered strays—actually speed. Sadly enough, there are not enough traffic patrols in the streets, and the few besieged ranks, barring those who have not succumbed to the lure of money offered by errant motorists, keep trying to ensure proper road use. But, in any case, there are no pounds and no stray catchers. Where are we going?

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The damage to public property

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