CLEANING UP STABROEK SQUARE

Nov 15, 2008 Editorial

Fortune favours the brave. The bravery of the police in recent weeks has led to success — tremendous success — in dismantling criminal gangs.

Ever since the killing of wanted criminal Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins and his accomplice Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, the police have been on a roll.

When your fortune is running, you should not lose momentum. The police are rolling with their fortune; they are ensuring that they do not lose focus.

After the professional manner in which they captured persons suspected of being involved in the Wales Estate payroll heist, the police have now outlined plans to deal with the peak Christmas season.

Of course, the police have always traditionally placed more ranks on the roads and deployed a more visible presence in the downtown areas during the festive season.

They are doing the same again this year, but have added a new dimension, for which the Commissioner must be commended.

Speaking to the media this week, the Commissioner of Police announced detailed plans to deal with the increased traffic which often causes extensive bottlenecks at this time.

More importantly, the Commissioner of Police, in a no nonsense mood, has instructed the Commander of the ‘A’ Division and the Traffic Chief to clean up the Stabroek area of loiterers, touts and criminals. He has also warned against noise nuisance.

The expected campaign to remove unsavoury elements from the Stabroek area will, however, pose a stern test for the resolve of the Guyana Police Force. The area in general is congested with minibus parks, illegal vendors and structures.

The fact that many of the main bus parks along with a major market are located in this area contributes to heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic. This, in turn, encourages an unusually high concentration of vendors, limers, touts and unsavoury elements waiting to pounce on citizens.

Many persons have complained about being robbed in that area. Many others, out of fear, stay clear of going to the Stabroek Square. Others find the congestion too stifling to tolerate.

Something needs to be done, and the police are taking a lead in trying to bring some sanity to the area.
We hope that the police do not face any obstruction as they attempt to carry out their new campaign; nor do we hope that they are labelled bullies, as one minister who attempted some rationalisation of the area was described.

We wish the forthcoming campaign by the police well, but we do not feel that the desired results can be forthcoming without a multi-agency approach, since there is a need for an overall plan to streamline bus parks, traffic, vending, and illegal structures in that area..

It will be difficult for the police. For one, the high concentration of parks and vendors means that the area will always have a heavy flow of persons, and this will make the job of the police difficult and controversial.

What is needed is a comprehensive plan for the area, one that will see most of the bus parks except for the round-of-town routes being removed from that area. The removal of these parks will have two effects.

Firstly, it will reduce the number of pedestrians using the area, and secondly, it will reduce the number of vendors.

What is therefore needed to support the anti-crime drive in the area is a major effort to rationalize the parks and other activities in and around the Stabroek area.

A start, however, has to be made, and we hope that all law-abiding citizens will support the professional efforts of the police to bring greater order to a hub that presents major headaches each day.

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CLEANING UP STABROEK SQUARE

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