Minibus, SVU collide at Camp Street intersection

Oct 22, 2008 News

Reported brake failure resulted in a minibus and an SVU colliding at the corner of Camp and Quamina Streets last evening.

The damaged SVU

The accident, which occurred at about 17:40 hrs, has left several people, including school children, nursing minor injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
According to reports, PJJ 4700 was travelling along Quamina Street when it collided with a route 44 minibus, BJJ 6700. The drivers of both vehicles gave conflicting reports.
The SVU driver, Zerack Ahmad, of Alexander Village, told this newspaper he was halfway over Camp Street when the minibus drove into his path.
“The bus was park in the corner picking up passengers when he drove off and that is how we crash,” Ahmad said.
However, the minibus driver, Ganesh Seenarine, said that he was driving along Camp Street when Ahmad failed to stop at the corners of Camp and Quamina Streets.
“He is so drunk that he ain’t even know what he do,” the minibus driver said.

The damaged minibus that was involved in yesterday’s accident

Following the collision, the driver said the bus toppled, causing minor injuries to passengers.
When Kaieteur News arrived at the scene, shattered pieces of glass were scattered across the road.
Both drivers were in negotiation since Ahmad was reportedly willing to pay for the damages caused.
However, Seenarine was awaiting the arrival of the police since, according to him, he wanted to do things the ‘right way.’
Over at the GHPC, several persons including three children in school uniform were waiting to be attended to by a doctor.
It was only on Monday that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said that improved discipline on the roadways could reduce accident rates, loss of lives, injuries, pain and grief, loss of equipment and money.
The Prime Minister made the statement while offering condolences to the family and friends of Akila Jacobs, the reporter who died following a smash-up in Linden on Saturday.
“When we look in the Ministry of Works, some time ago, and had some comparison done in accidents in Guyana compared to the United States, on some measures, the experts said that Guyana’s accident rates were some 50 times higher than in the USA.”
At present, what has been happening is that drivers are moving into the realm that their speed is determined by the type of road they are driving on, he said.