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An open letter to the Traffic Chief

Dec 18, 2009 Letters

Dear Traffic Chief,
It is with much concern that I bring to your attention my deepest concern with the manner in which lives are lost on Guyana’s roads.
I grieve with the families which have lost their loved ones. We are losing fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children on the bloodied roadways of our dear country, this we can ill afford and still the carnage continues unabated.
Over the past 10 years, I have been witnessing the lack of adequate mobile traffic ranks on our roadways after 22:00hrs each day. I have also seen the carnage on our roadways, especially on the corridors of the East Coast of Demerara, and on the East Bank of Demerara.
I must admit that I have not recently ventured much away from those corridors mentioned and presume that the reckless driving on all other of such roads are the same.
Mr. Traffic Chief I know of the herculean task you face as the Chief Traffic Officer, however, the mandate is yours to keep the road users of our country safe. Consequently, you will have to deal with this matter with an iron fist.
I can recall, even when we were police constables during the days of traffic officers like Mr. Patsy James, Mr. Maxi Bristol and Mr. Dereyk Rodney, traffic officers were respected. This was so because those officers were polite yet firm in their dealings with the public. Sadly, today we are witnessing traffic officers who are pompous and rude who display the lack of basic common intellect.
I am sure that if  motorists are stopped, spoken to politely and ticketed if needs be, then there will be no residual anger at the end of the day.
Permit me at this time to compare the level of professionalism of the traffic ranks with that of immigration officers. When one speaks with an immigration officer the level of politeness is of such a high level that it makes, one feel that there is still some hope left for civil servants in Guyana.
On the other hand, most times when one interacts with a traffic rank one is left angered beyond belief. I often wonder if training in uncouth behaviour and self importance are a part of the Standard Operational Procedures of traffic ranks. The time to palliate is over. Let our taxpayers see more traffic ranks on the roads trying to prevent accidents instead of turning up after the accident.
A more proactive stand is needed to curb this bloodletting on our roads.
Let them see that you are making a difference by trying to save the lives and limbs of your fellow countrymen. The buck stops at your desk. I sincerely hope that on your retirement you would be in good conscience to realise that you have done your service to your country by saving lives on our roads.
Orin Major

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