Latest update January 28th, 2025 12:59 AM
May 22, 2016 Letters
Dear Editor,
As normal, every time someone is put to head our traffic department in Guyana, the media would get interviews from that person about their vision and the way they plan to enhance the traffic department in Guyana. The present acting Traffic Chief, Superintendent Boodnarine Persaud is no different and his statement about going after police officers with tinted vehicle drew my attention. I am looking on to see if indeed he have what it takes to go after them or just selected (junior ranks) officers or just ‘tooting his horn’, because since the introduction of the tinted laws, many police men/women have some of the darkest tinted vehicles that even our Law Makers (MP’s) vehicles. I recall our Director of Sports, Christopher Jones at that time a member of Parliament had to strip his vehicle of tint by officers who stopped him.
On the West Coast of Demerara and East Bank Essequibo (where the acting Traffic Chief, Superintendent Boodnarine Persaud lives), there are many officers with heavily tinted vehicles and I am looking to see if they will be stripped or if they will cease using their tinted vehicles until the storm passed and then resume using their tinted vehicles. Whilst his statement is impressive, there are still problems affecting our roadways and the carnage continues and I didn’t see/hear any plan to remedy those situations. For instance, the hospital park (route 45) at Stabroek Market is always in confusion and traffic always seems to be blocked there by mini-buses that don’t want to abide by the rules and join the lines.
Tuesday last although the vendors are removed from the area, minibuses are still blocking the traffic and other motorists have to continuously blow their horns to get a pass. Previous traffic chiefs tried and the media are always bombarded with complains and letters about that area but no solutions.
Editor, I was in high praises for the traffic department when the roadways filled with officers using the radar guns and carrying out random breath analyzer tests, because the lawlessness and roadways killings were declining. I’m urging the acting Traffic Chief, Superintendent Boodnarine Persaud to resume this practice because, on Friday last at Parika I noticed an ex-traffic officer (Canu) who’s now operating a route 32 minibus with loud music picking up passengers and at one stop, I noticed him drinking Guinness whilst he’s driving. Passengers are scared to make complaints/objection and if you look for a traffic rank on the roadways, at certain time they are not around and from what I’ve heard this is a regular for him and because he’s an ex officer, his former colleagues turn a blind eyes to his action.
For me it’s alright when someone causes an accident gets charged but I still don’t have confidence that the perpetrator will pay due to the way our legal system runs (bribery, case jackets missing, slothfulness of cases, witnesses’ getting tired of going to Court etc.) Meanwhile innocent life/lives are lost or people seriously maimed. I prefer to see lives saved instead.
Sahadeo Bates
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Jan 28, 2025
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Come Sahadeo, face reality. The roadways in Guyana cannot take off the traffic. We all know that there are emergencies while one is driving. When this happens there is little room for wriggling out. This coupled with drunken driving and speeding all contribute. It seems that congested roads is one of the legacies of British rule. There is no room to expand the roads since the areas that were set aside for expansion have all been privately occupied and is still being occupied unabated. Something has to be done about this since a certain portion from the centre of the road is government reserve. We built roadway on the old railway line yet no one considered the reserve.