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Shoddy treatment at Supenaam and Parika Stellings
Dear Editor,
Please permit a citizen of our dear land to vent a quite distasteful experience, which I had last Sunday (March 10, 2019) en route from Essequibo back to the ancient county. I arrived at the Good Hope/Supenaam Stelling at 10:20 hrs with the knowledge that due to the tide, the vessel was scheduled to depart for Parika at 10:30am, promptly. Whilst making my way via the walkway, accessing the vessel with three fellow travellers who were in front of me, I realized that the gantry of the vessel was being raised by a T & HD staff who displayed an almost vindictive smirk on his face as he watched passengers make an about turn. Upon consulting with the three passengers who were in front of me, we agreed that the gantry was indeed raised prematurely at 10:20am, also, upon enquiring with staff in the office, it was confirmed that the scheduled departure time was 10:30hrs. When I questioned the staff as to the reason for the premature departure, I was flabbergasted by the weak and ‘substanceless’ excuse offered, the most bizarre that I have heard in my almost four decades of travelling from New Amsterdam to Essequibo, my birthplace, which was that the T & HD has in place a standing order which allows for departures of vessels at least fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled time. I find it utterly ridiculous that such an arrangement is even in place. It would be much more acceptable for a vessel to leave later than its scheduled time and rather than earlier. It is highly uncouth to mislead the public who are paying for a service, many of whom on that and many days were forced to resort to the speedboat, a much costlier and riskier venture. I also take several issues with the manner in which business is conducted at the Parika Stelling:
1) I, along with many of my Guyanese brothers and sisters who traverse this route have time and time again fallen victim to being pushed further and further down the queue of vehicles by so called “priority customers”, many of whom have all of a sudden become priority by passing a’ few dollars’ to the staff, in many instances in the plain view of passengers.
2) Why is there such a haphazard record keeping system in place whereby the contents of the book are continuously altered by staff as they see fit? Why is there not a sequential system in place whereby the records are numbered, done in multiple copies and adhered to by the relevant operational sections?
Haven’t we stood by long enough and watched indiscipline devour every facet of daily life in this country? Mind you, I have no issues with the priority crossings; however, I am opined that there must be a limited number of such customers and a board containing a list of such customers placed in view of every passenger so as to foster transparency in this regard as was the case in the days of Mr. Stanley Gilkes. I’m appealing to the relevant personnel of the T & H D, many of whom I am acquainted with to put an end to the unjust and frankly inhumane treatment of our citizens at these ports, return some amount of good will and decency to the services offered and to reprimand those who are found culpable of infringing upon the rights of our people for a few extra dollars.
R.A Matthews
A son of the soil.
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