New bus fares, but same distasteful service for us lowly commuters

Aug 22, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
Twenty dollar increase across the board for minibus fares is a meager amount, but minibus operators are still offering distasteful service and will continue to do so indefinitely. I say this because I am positive that they will continue to demand commuters to, ” gi me a squeeze deh, shake down lil deh, every bady gah fuh live,four in a bar from the back. ” Loud and lewd music after a hard day’s work, shaky seats, stuck like bologna among sweaty and smelly conductors and passengers and the list goes on. When will the government introduce some big buses for the public on all routes?

Make the lives of the citizens of Guyana a bit less stressful and a little more comfortable. It’s a tremendous and tiresome hassle using transportation ( minibuses) provided by private citizens every Monday to Friday. It’s time the politicians take a step out of their classy and “A” grade offices and take a walk on the minibus parks especially on weekday afternoons between the hours of three and six p.m. Come and have a firsthand experience of what it is like to board a minibus to arrive at your destinations. Every afternoon citizens can be seen walking and sometimes literally running up and down Lombard Street beginning from the old GNCB bank and extending to Herman and Sons Tailoring Shop and onward just to get in a minibus to get home. Some persons can be seen dashing across the road between the oncoming traffic also, children included. Should we really have to practice for a relay or marathon after a hard day’s work? Some persons even walk as far as GNIC or further to get into a minibus which means that more than likely when the minibuses arrive at Stabroek they are filled or almost filled, thus the hassle/circus ensues. Sometimes we are left on the roadways until after 6 pm. Editor, sadly, arriving to Georgetown in the mornings is no different. If one doesn’t leave home the latest at 6:45 am you’re bound to be late for work or school or use the alternative route via the speedboat. This hassle only describes the ordeal of citizens using the 31 route. I am positive that there are persons plying other routes with similar or worse situations.

Will this lawlessness ever change? Politics is a nasty affair, always was and always will be. The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. Who really cares about the man below the ladder? Can every commuter really afford this extra $20.00? Do the persons who have no other alternative but to use these crappy services matter? Or is it because ministers of government and politicians enjoy fancy car rides equipped with ACs and adequate space? How much longer must we be subjected to this level of lawlessness that has gripped our nation? Who will fight genuinely for a change for all? Or am I to believe every man unto his own?
Yours respectfully,
Palesa Lam.

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