Guyana is a remarkable place, with strange people

Feb 24, 2019 Features / Columnists, My Column

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Guyana is a lawless society and we like it that way. Those words were spoken to me in the wake of the fight against parking meters. I supported parking meters because they made the roads around certain business places safe.
I remember going to the bank and having no difficulty to find parking. There was space because cars that would loiter in the vicinity simply did not. For a fact, some of the people who trailed people from the bank would park in the vicinity and send an accomplice into the bank to observe transactions.
When the customer left the bank it was not difficult for the bandits to follow him and rob him. It was easy for them to break into the parked cars and remove what item they wanted. But with the parking meters it became that bit more difficult.
Yet the vast majority of people opposed the meters, hence the woman’s conclusion that Guyana was a lawless society that the people liked.
Those who travelled had no difficulty abiding by the rules that existed in other countries. They murmured not. If they couldn’t find parking they would seek a parking lot and pay a substantial sum rather than pay the police who would be patrolling the meters.
The meters have not been the only thing to attract objections. When the Demerara Harbour Bridge was opened and people realized that they had to pay a toll, they complained. They spoke of the taxes that were imposed on them in addition to the other taxes they had to pay. Time passed and the tolls remained.
People paid them without complaining, except when the tolls were hiked after many years.
It was the same with the Berbice Bridge. These tolls were among the highest in the world. But people paid them, because they had no choice. Even with the government intervention the toll remains high, and people continue to pay them.
Of course, there is a difference between Guyana and the foreign countries. People pay inordinately high taxes when compared to what we pay in Guyana. Even the insurance for their vehicles is as high as the sky. But the people pay them.
They get their returns, however. The taxes pay for roads and for garbage. If there is a pothole it is fixed almost immediately, because the city would have to pay damages if anything happens. Because of the taxes they pay, the people sue at the drop of a hat.
Recently, some minibus drivers opted to protest because of the fines they have to pay in court for traffic breaches. These minibus operators firmly believe that the fines are crippling them and therefore should be removed. They do not consider adhering to the law and therefore avoid the fines.
In their book, the authorities must accommodate their lawlessness. Failing this, they would protest and strike.
I am aware of the fines imposed by the authorities in New York. A traffic light breach attracts a $75 ticket. An illegal turn also attracts a high ticket. People can ignore the ticket, but these attract interest. One unpaid $50 ticket can reach $250 in six months. Then there is the suspension of the driver’s licence. I dare anyone to protest.
And so I come to the proposal to attach a further tax to the airline ticket. Once more there are complaints. One man claimed that he already pays a lot of taxes and he should not be paying any more.
I had a recent look at a plane ticket that I bought and found a range of taxes. There was a tax for just about everything, including baggage handling. And to make matters worse, the cost of the ticket fluctuates, sometimes becoming twice as high as a ticket bought a mere two weeks ago. And we pay the cost.
We are an amusing people. We fret and we fuss, sometimes over nonexistent things. As I noted last week, there was the fuss over the police and the political cover-up of Brian O’Toole’s shooting. When it became obvious that people were reacting to false information, not one of them had the courage or the courtesy to comment on their misfortune.
Then there are those of us who insist that we have no political position, but we make scathing remarks about issues and individuals, often on the other side of the political divide. When challenged or when similar comments are made about people on the other side there are complaints and protests. I see them every day.
Last week Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo voiced his opinion that the foreign powers should revoke visas granted to the members of the Guyana Elections Commission that were appointed by A Partnership for National Unity. He also opined that their bank accounts should be frozen.
To freeze an individual’s bank account is to suggest that the account contains ill-gotten gains. That would suggest that the APNU commissioners are all dishonest people.
Jagdeo’s only reason must have been that they voted against members of his party who sit on the commission. If grounds for disagreement must attract harsh penalties, then people had better be careful with their disagreements.
There are disagreements about the state of Guyana come March 19, 2019. Some talk about a constitutional crisis; some about foreign investors refusing to come to Guyana and yet others about an illegal government.
These issues have been addressed in other forums. I had cause to refer to the doctrine of necessity that stipulates that there must be a government in place. But while these arguments continue, I can see a further widening of the rift in the society, because we seem to have lost the capability to be reasonable people.

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