NOT EASY AT ALL!

Nov 18, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

On Christmas Eve, a traffic rank stood at a busy intersection for hours waving his hands furiously, trying desperately and successfully to keep the traffic flowing. It was a Herculean and heroic effort by that man and yet hardly anyone found the time to shout a “thank- you” to him for the great work he was doing while they were busy shopping or enjoying the sights.
The traffic ranks, particularly those that were deployed to direct traffic in the run-up to Christmas Eve, worked especially hard and beyond the call of duty. Of course they were beneficiaries of the special one month salary that was given to the Disciplined Services by the government.
But you always feel that particularly those traffic ranks that are sent out to direct the flow of traffic deserve a bigger bonus for the hard, long hours they put in.
This year the traffic department is not going to have it any easier. While Guyanese will be urged to do their shopping earlier and while the disciplined will do so, there will be throngs within our streets in the last remaining shopping days for Christmas and with the heavy flow of traffic there will be bottlenecks.
The traffic authorities have fortunately recognized this and will be reportedly taking steps to control the access of vehicular traffic into the main shopping areas. Just how they will do this is anybody’s guess but they are indeed in an enviable position trying to deal with this problem.
One of solutions touted is for limited parking in the downtown area. But this really is not going to help much because there is already limited parking and therefore how do you limit the already limited.
Another suggestion has been to ask shoppers to park away from the main commercial zone and use some public transport or walk to where they have to shop.
This suggestion is bound to be greeted with the usual excuses about being unable to do so. Guyanese can find excuses quick than plasters for sores. And they find a million reasons why it would be in violation of their constitutional rights to park in front where they are going.
It therefore seems clear that the traffic authorities will have to close off some zones (not just streets) to vehicular traffic within certain hours, so as to control the flow of traffic as the shopping heats up after December 15.
This is the time when the Yankee dollars and Britsh Pounds begin to flow as overseas migrants cash in on their bonus and remember their less- fortunate relatives back home.
Christmas for tens of thousands of Guyanese depends on these foreign remittances as it does on the spending power of those who return home for the holidays to find that their relatives are short on cash and therefore the visitors have to do most of the purchasing required to keep the larder filled.
So, come December 15 and onwards the traffic authorities will have their hands filled and they must now come up with a plan on how to deal with the problem. The government should come to the rescue of the traffic department and appoint a special team to help the traffic authorities to deal with the problems that will arise in the run-up to Christmas.
What is certain is that there will have to be traffic restrictions in some areas. This is unavoidable. Also, special parking lots with security will have to be created so that citizens can leave their vehicles, walk to the shopping centers and then return to the safety of their vehicles. You cannot expect people to simply park their vehicles without any assurances that it will be safe.
The traffic department should identify some of these locations for parking and put some arrangement in place for security so that people could feel comfortable to leave their vehicles for a long period while they are away.
There is also going to be a fair number of fender benders during this holiday season and therefore everyone should be urged to be careful. It would help if the vendors can be kept totally off the pavements so that pedestrians do not have to walk on the roadway, thereby endangering their lives. But it does seem too late now for these sort of restrictions on vending to be put in place and therefore there will be additional problems for the traffic department.
It is a difficult situation facing the traffic ranks and they have to make some harsh choices. People must understand that if they have to walk a greater distance, they should not complain because the alternative would be total chaos caused by traffic jams and traffic confusion enough to drive any sane person crazy.

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