Latest update April 26th, 2026 12:45 AM
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Changing lanes
What is happening on the East Bank Demerara public road? What is going on in the upper elevations of the Guyana Police Force, and whatever is going on, what could be the thinking?
What could have been behind the decision – a unilateral one, no less – to take away one lane from the busy (extremely crowded) East Bank Demerara thoroughfare during the morning and afternoon rush hours? With three lanes open for northward traffic flows in the morning, it is still a jam session that can last for hours, as even those who don’t use that road, or those not considered traffic experts, could sensibly attest. Southward in the afternoon it’s the same thing.
On a regular business day, it is tight and crawling, from almost start to finish, whether one travels from the depths of Diamond, the more distant Friendship and Grove, or the unending lengths of the serpent that is of the West Bank and West Coast.
Long lines, creeping lines, impatient lines are the norm on any given day, when school is open, work goes on as regular, and stores and offices ready for business. And this is when three lanes are fully operational. It is not the smoothest or quickest, or most comforting, but it is what is there, it is what we have, and it is what works, when everything clicks into place.
After more than a year, how come there is now a need to tamper with it, to attempt what looks like whimsically experimenting with it?
Because there is this old mantra: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Don’t try to tweak and unleash even more problems to an already problematic situation. Don’t ask for trouble, don’t introduce the chaos that resulted, don’t add to the many agonies that citizens of this country have to contend with day after day.
The shocks and severities of the situation were only made worse by the absence of additional uniformed ranks to help move things along. It appears to be the dismissal of swim or sink. In this instance, stay quiet and stay cool, or stay home and off the road.
The Harbour Bridge people said that they had no information as to the reasons for this change. That might have been a contributory factor, if there was a problem with the Harbour Bridge, but there isn’t. The thousands of stricken commuters were quick to voice their angry and disgusted reactions to the sudden tortures inflicted, compliments of the Guyana Police Force traffic leadership.
From all indications, the far-reaching decision was taken in a vacuum. If not, then how is it that nobody from the south or west knew until the full impact descended upon them like an avalanche out of nowhere?
Whatever the rationale, and it must be good, something is amiss here. If it is about repairs, then another time and hour must be found to accommodate such necessities. If it is a conceptual exercise brought to life through implementation, then it is a failure from start to finish. And if it is in preparation for the accommodation of cricketing matters, then that, too, ought to be rethought and revised very rapidly. There is not much left that may justify such a radical step, without not so much as the courtesy of a notice, no matter how immediate, no matter how unpalatable.
In fairness to the traffic challenges of the Guyana Police Force, and it must be acknowledged that there are more than a few, the only saving grace might be if there were – and are – some repairs of the most urgent nature that must be undertaken, and immediately.
If that is the case, then it is imperative that the leaders of the Traffic Department take to the microphones and cameras and share such detail with the commuting public. Though this should have been done before, it is still not too late, even if some bad feelings have taken root. The amount of time, the length of the exercise and space needed and, correspondingly, the duration of the lane reduction from three to two, all have to be disclosed and by the widest possible channels.
Yesterday, the GPF announced that it had changed its decision to remove the third lane.
This could have been done better, earlier.
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