Irresponsible speedboat driving needs to be stopped

Oct 06, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor;
In order to reach certain parts of Guyana, one of the main or fastest ways to reach there is by using boat/speed boats and whilst numerous lives are being lost on our roadways quite a lot have been lost by boat accidents. Recently I’ve been travelling to Charity quite a lot and in order to reach there, I have to travel by speed boat from Parika to Supenaam then a taxi to Charity.
On Sunday, October 2, was my latest visit and just as we left the Parika stelling, about five minutes after, the speed boat (Crystal Serenity) that we were travelling hit a wave which caused the boat to start swerving dangerously and tilt extremely close to capsizing on the left side (port side); all the passengers were thrown to that side which caused almost everyone to be scared and some voiced their opinion openly.
For the time that I’ve been travelling to and back from Charity, we’ve gotten a few scares but the latest incident with the boat is very alarming and needs to be addressed immediately before it’s too late. Between my travelling to and from Charity, I always seized the opportunity to ask and get details about the Region and the residents’ way of life etc. and also talk about my observations of the reckless usage of both the waterways and roadways.
Most of what I gathered is from either drivers or the speed boat captains but I will deal with the speed boats problems today. Just Google “boat accident ‘Guyana’” and see how many accidents are caused by boats and how many lives were lost. A lot of rules were introduced or reintroduced for the speed boats and systems were put in place a while back but sadly somewhere along the line there’s a lapse and lawlessness prevails.
Amongst the changes, monitors were put at the various stellings and I was under the impression that they were to ensure that all safety rules are in place before the boat leaves but on my observations, that is not the case. The monitor for the Bartica boats could be seen sitting at various locations, sometimes in the stelling under the shed and out of sight of the boat that is loading. On seeing everyone passing, he would ask them if they are travelling to Bartica and if they do; he would have to get their names to write on a list. However, someone travelling could say no and board the loading boat without giving their name because he’s out of sight with the boat.
The boat we travel with on Sunday has Perspex windows and the one at the front clearly states that only twenty five passengers are allowed on the boat but the boat left Parika with twenty eight passengers plus the captain and bowman. Although the bowman and captain requested that everyone put on a life jacket, many of the passengers chose not to and again no monitor was present to ensure that everyone had a jacket on before leaving.
When you arrive at Supenaam, you pay either the bowman or captain when disembarking the boat and if you are journeying back to Parika from Supenaam, you have to pay the fare before the boat leaves Supenaam. Why is that? All of the speed boats operating at the Parika stelling would usually travel at the maximum speed the engine has and some boats have two engines (each engine might have a lower horse power that the boats with the single engine or some would have the same horse power like the boats with single but instead of one, it would have two) whilst some have two engines and one would have a high horse power and the other would have a lower horse power.
According to some, the boats that have engines with different horse power is dangerously difficult to control especially when water is rough because both engines would be travelling at their maximum speed and one would be pushing more than one and that would cause the boat to pull/steer to one side and should the a wave hit the weaker side, it could capsize the boat or make it sway dangerously like what happen last Sunday with us.
I travel on the same route when the water was rough and had it been rougher, I am 100% sure that boat would have capsized. I should mention that twice the same boat had to go close to land because they were experiencing mechanical problems. I know that people have to live but why risk other people’s lives? If the water is rough and one of the engines cannot work, it would be extremely hard to control the boat because the working engine would be on one side of the boat. Everyone knows that steering a boat with one engine that is not in the middle of the boat is taking a chance.
That is why most of the boats plying the Vreed-en-Hoop/Georgetown route have to travel at a slow speed. Many passengers traversing that space could verify what I’m saying. When the water is rough, the boats sway dangerously. Because the water is rough sometimes, the boats tend to bounce a lot and the seats are only fitted with what seems to be either ½ or ¾ inch sponge and that is very uncomfortable for passengers, especially those sitting at the front part of the boat.
It’s not advisable to allow sick people, women, children or old people there, but because of the uncaring attitudes of the operators, they don’t advise people how to sit. Because of the constant jarring of the boats, they would become shaky and many boats have leaks and some have water coming in from the shed and soaking from your head downwards.
Finally Editor, most boat operators would tell you that it costs between thirty to sixty thousand dollars for them to obtain their captain’s license, but many of them cannot control a boat properly and I’ve always wondered what sort of test those desirous of obtaining a captain’s licence have to undergo. Whilst it might look simple to just start an engine, shift it in gear and go, it’s very challenging to control a boat in rough water while travelling at high speed. Based on my observations, some captains cannot ride a wave properly and in most cases they don’t even slow the boat down when they see extremely high waves, they just charge through and that is a dangerous way to go.
There is nonsense happening at the stellings and these issues need to be addressed and they must be consistent not just wait for something to happen and then appoint an army retiree to conduct a COI to tell us what we already know and make recommendations. Many of these problems were there before the change of Government and this present administration knew about these problems.
The President must use his better judgment and appoint people to manage certain areas and they should ensure that things are in place for people to travel safely. Not when lives are lost you come out as if you’re just awake and discover these problems. You put systems in place which only last for a period of time and expect everything to be OK. I should also state that I leave Supenaam after 6:30pm in darkness.
Sahadeo Bates

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