Pedestrian and Passenger nightmare at the Georgetown stelling roadway

Apr 11, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Something has been going on for the longest while that no politician seems capable of even addressing, much less correcting. It is a passenger’s nightmare traversing the roadway at the Georgetown stelling leading out to the Fire Station. On a daily basis, thousands of people travel by speedboat to and from Georgetown even more than the Demerara Harbour Bridge usually handles and there is simply no reason to feel that we are humans and having any rights to walk on the roadway leading to and from the Fire station area.
The pavement alongside the Stabroek market has long been hijacked from the citizens of the country with vendors permanently occupying it. Embarking from the speedboat in the morning to walk to your destination is very stressful. There is nowhere to walk, with taxi drivers jostling for positions closest to the stelling and even parking in the stelling itself.
Minibuses are deliberately blocking the middle of the roadway, fighting to get the next loading spot while dozens of other vehicles simply stuck with no movements in traffic. Trucks and vans are squeezing to offload their merchandise to the market while trolley carts are intertwined into the mixture of chaos and confusion. Honking horns and obscene language are the only music in the air which is further complimented with dust, smoke and foul smell.
As if the vending on the pavement is not enough, the vendors are also battling with the buses, trucks and cars for this narrow roadway. Vegetables, groceries and fish are openly exposed to the putrid atmosphere where diseases lurk at every stall. As if going to work amidst this condition is not enough, passengers have to traverse the same area in the afternoon to cross the speedboat on to their homes.
Amidst all this hazard, school children, doctors, nurses and other professionals are finding a way to navigate this 100 meters of hellish roadway six days per week. To add insult to injury, the area becomes a haven for criminals in the evening even as early as 5pm. One cannot escape a pickpocket attack because there is nowhere to move even if one suspects a bandit is at hand. No one reports robbery because they know there is a total breakdown of law and order in the high government much less the local municipality. Trolleys mashing shoppers’ feet are common, vendors verbally abusing pedestrians because they brace their makeshift shacks are daily and vehicles bracing other vehicles are regular.
Considering that the City Council and Fire Station are on spot with the main police headquarters a little up the roadway and parliament building can be visible from there, it is almost criminal for this atmosphere to prevail for one week much less years. Not a single law enforcement personnel can ever be seen as if they themselves have given up and resigned to their fate. It is a tourist’s nightmare after crossing the speedboat and having to experience a ghetto life for fifteen minutes is storytelling when they return to their country.
I urge other citizens to come out and speak about this situation for the thousands that are affected and are paying our fair share of taxes. We are contributing to the economy as all other sectors and we will not be sitting idly listening to the politicians campaign for our votes and giving them freely like that.
Tracy Abraham

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