Air condition driving, anti-freeze coolant and Leonard Gildarie

Dec 05, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Kaieteur News – Believe it or leave it, I am typing this column at 4.40 AM Sunday. I got up at 2AM and did not go back to sleep. My computer has the weather forecast. It says 24C. I will return to that 24C when I discuss below anti-freeze coolant in cars in Guyana.

It rained for hours and hours Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon, Georgetown and East Bank did not have hot weather. Yet while driving up the East Bank to get to Leonard’s office, a majority of vehicles I saw the air conditioning (AC) on.

Leonard and I had a difference of opinion on our show last Wednesday when our guest was fitness exert, Paul Musa. I mentioned on the programme that I cannot understand in one of the world’s most unpolluted countries – Guyana – people drive with windows clamped up and the AC on.

In terms of healthy living it does not make sense. Leonard says I do not know how hot it is in the mornings on the East Bank so drivers have to use their AC. But I do not think at 8AM it is so hot in Guyana, though I confess that weather conditions are chaotic worldwide. I would love to hear from others about Leonard’s point about the heat at 8AM on the East Bank.

Leonard did agree that people drive with AC in the evenings. They do and it makes no sense. We have an abundance of fresh, clean unpolluted air that we should use. Mr. Musa thinks we should not use the AC while driving. It is either drivers do not know better or they are copying what they see from developed countries. And many times what they see does not apply to Guyana.

A good example of this is the refurbished Sherriff Street which a letter-writer wrote about yesterday. The man is right. The engineers copied the bicycle lane thing from developed countries.
Holland makes extensive use of bicycles because of how the streets evolved in downtown Amsterdam. It is better to ride than drive to work. On Sheriff Street, there is not much bicycle traffic. So vehicles use that space. It is better to remove the bicycle lane because it is causing confusion. On Saturday, when I was going to Leonard and I used it, the traffic was chaotic. I did not continue but used an alternative route. If Saturday was crazy what happens during school hours and working days.

The point is we are using what we see outside when the outside world does not have the driving madness that is destroying this country. The engineers and the politicians went abroad and have returned with a fascination with roundabouts.

The setting up of a simple surveillance camera at the seawall roundabout would reveal that it is not working. Drivers going east on Homestretch Avenue are not stopping to give way to those that are in the circle.

So those in the circle clash with those going east. I prefer traffic signals. In Guyana where the drivers are the worst in the world, traffic signals are simply irreplaceable. Maybe there are countless parts of Guyana where roundabout will be nice to have but not at Railway Embankment and Sherriff Street and by the seawall.

Finally, I return to the 24C we had Sunday morning. Even when it rained the entire day and the place was cool, it was 24C, meaning your radiator will never, ever in Guyana reached zero for the coolant to freeze.

Why is the Bureau of Standards allowing the importation of anti-freeze coolant? A two litre bottle cost $8000. The same amount of non-anti-freeze coolant is $4500. You have to be incredibly naïve to buy the $8000 item.

I have been told that the anti-freeze coolant have additional positive ingredients. Well if that is so, you are paying $8000 because it also has anti-freeze element. Why not buy a type of coolant that has those preserving chemicals without the anti-freeze element? You will simply pay less.

It makes no sense to buy anti-freeze coolant. Do not copy from countries that experience below zero temperature, something we will never have because of where geography has placed Guyana.
Will drivers who read this stop buying anti-freeze coolant? Will Guyanese patronize Café Pele instant coffee instead of Nestles when a percentage of each bottle of Café Pele goes to Pele in Brazil who is very ill at the moment? Both coffees are identical. It is almost impossible to understand the psychology of Guyanese so I don’t know if they care about the effects of constant use of AC in their cars when the fresh air is better. As for me, I did my part long ago in trying to change this sad land.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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