A COLOURFUL CHRISTMAS!

Nov 19, 2015 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Christmas is over one month away but already the congestion within Georgetown is unbearable. Traffic is moving at snail’s pace in the main commercial districts.
This congestion on the streets is complicated by the congestion on the pavements. Vendors are once again invading the pavements and reserves. They are encumbering these places and adding to the confusion within the city.
The Guyana Police Force has announced an anti-crime plan. But they have not yet indicated their plans to deal with the additional traffic that will descend on the streets of Georgetown as we get closer to Christmas.
The anti-crime plan involves having more ranks on our streets. This perhaps is the only thing that the police can think about. It is what they have done in the past and it is the only script that perhaps they can come up with at this time.
There is not enough police in the country to effectively patrol all the areas of Guyana. There are not sufficient ranks in the Guyana Police Force to safeguard the streets. The police are also rejecting help from the army, with good cause because the army’s involvement in anti-crime operations has not dented crime in the country. If anything the army represents a liability in such operations.
The police are short of manpower for the holidays. The public therefore has to be on the guard this Christmas because there will be huge gaps in the crime prevention strategy for the holidays.
While more anti-crime personnel would have aided in crime prevention, more traffic cops will not make much of an impact on the traffic situation in the country.
The traffic problem is a problem of congestion and numbers. Traffic cops will not reduce traffic jams and congestion because they are not into taking vehicles off the streets and illegal vendors off the pavements.
There must be a smart plan to deal with Christmas traffic. The public must not be left to the mercy of traffic and vendors this holiday season. There seems to be little choice unless a holiday plan for traffic control is immediately implemented.
This plan has to involve reducing the number of vehicles using the roadways in the commercial districts. The City Council and the Police should come together to create places for paid parking and to close off some roads into the City.
Governments are good at making grand plans and spending public funds on projects. They are good at tackling the big issues but are notoriously ineffective at solving problems. Yet, problem-solving is what is most needed at this time.
Solving the problem of traffic this Christmas goes beyond trying out simple measures. Drastic actions have to be implemented. Unless this is done, there will be mass confusion this Christmas!
The economy is threatening to deliver to Guyanese a blue Christmas. The traffic problem will make people see red. The crime wave makes them yellow from fear. It does promise to be a colourful Christmas.