THE CANDLELIGHT GROUP

Jul 24, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Following the tragic accident that occurred on Homestretch Avenue recently, a candlelight vigil is being mounted almost nightly at the location where the accident took place. Those involved are very serious about not simply allowing the victims to be just another statistic.
The group carrying out the candlelight exercise is not seeking publicity. Those involved are simply doing something that is important to them and hoping no doubt that in the long run it will make a difference to safety on our roads.
They may not realize it, but what they are doing is assuming ownership of the problem. It is a problem that has affected them in a personal way and they have stepped up, accepted ownership of the problem, and are doing something about it. They are not passing the buck. They are saying that they are willing to be part of the solution. They are also taking action in their own small way to try and improve the road culture in Guyana.
The sight of a group of persons each night quietly holding their candles near the site where their friends and loved ones perished can have a sobering effect. It is moving because it shows that people want to make a difference and they are making that difference in a simple way.
Out of respect and support for what this group is doing, many persons have slowed down as they passed. Those passing have not said or shouted anything, just slowed down.
The group had started their action with a picketing exercise, calling attention to the culture of speeding, recklessness and negligence on our roadways.
There have been other protests in the past. Some families have resorted to erecting small signposts at the spot where their loved one died. But after awhile, these things are hardly noticeable, and people go their merry way.
Something, however, has to give when it comes to the use of our roads, and it is clear that the police, even with their best efforts, cannot change the culture on our roads. That culture has become entrenched and is being driven by materialism.
This candlelight group, out of respect for the memory of their loved ones, is attempting to call attention to the reckless use of our roadways, in the hope that change can be brought about.
The deaths of their friends and loved ones, as so many others before, would have been in vain unless some change emerges. And even if for a few days they try to make people more conscious about the need for greater responsibility on the roads, their candlelight vigil would have served a useful purpose. ‘Mothers in Black’ have tried before, but how much have they achieved?
The problem is not for want of trying. The problem is the obsession of the Guyanese people in trying to do much in too little time. Persons want to get where they are going faster than normal. They want to leave home later each day, yet get to where they are going on time. The bus owners want to maximize their takings, forgetting that they are providing a service not a favour.
The public somehow gets locked into feeling that the buses are doing them a favour, forgetting that they are paying for a service and therefore should not accept overcrowding and speeding.
The lack of competition compounds the problems. A great deal of young men see a future in being minibus drivers and conductors and there is nothing wrong with this, but then these workers get pulled into the sub-culture that it is the “in thing” – to weave in and out of traffic, drive fast and even dress casually.
Change takes time and people must be patient. When persons are needlessly losing their lives on the roads it is difficult to ask people to be patient about change. But wanting quick results is part of the problem.
The change has to begin at the individual level. Just go down to the bus and car parks any evening and it is shocking to see the number of persons on the roadways. Why are so many persons there? Why are they not in the safety and comfort of their homes?
The change, therefore, has to begin with a change in our lifestyles, with adopting a more simplified existence; of a reverting back to the time when a man woke up, rose and retired early – when people enjoyed being home. The present generation feels that the more you are out of the home the happier it will be.
The country has become all about money. People want to make money and want to make it fast. They will therefore foolishly risk safety for it. To change that mindset requires not a rush of activity but patience. The world did not get to where it is overnight. It took time.
We cannot always change things as we desire. But we can change and become better persons, and in so doing, impact positively in our society.

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