The system does not work

Jan 22, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

---

Kaieteur News – A second video has surfaced of a citizen being choked and robbed on one of the city’s pavements that has been overrun by vendors. This time the act was committed by two persons and in the full presence of a vendor.

The victim was left prostrated and floundering on the pavement, after the attack. Even then, the vendor failed to render assistance to the victim.

In the first video, a man was deprived of his haversack and its belongings in a choke and rob perpetrated by a single robber. A suspect was later held.

It is hoped that the authorities, especially the Georgetown Municipality, will take note of both videos and the ripe conditions which illegal vending create for muggings and robberies. A few weeks ago, a man was executed in broad daylight on Regent Street, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the country.

But whether after taking note, the City Council will finally act to clear our pavements can hardly be assured. City Council has failed to prevent the invasion of pavements, parapets and pathways by illegal vendors.

It is not safe at all to venture on to Georgetown’s crowded pavements. Walking with a haversack is not a high-risk activity.

The encroachment by illegal vendors creates an environment in which robbers thrive. The vendors’ illegal structures and its accoutrements obscure criminal acts from the view of public spirited citizens, some of whom may be inclined to come to the rescue of victims.

On letter writer has described walking on our overrun pavements as like walking through a dark hole. This column has said it is like traversing a gauntlet, one that is becoming increasingly dangerous.

But it is not only illegal vendors who are guilty of overrunning the pavements and parapets. Many businesses are also guilty of the same act.

One of the main grouses facing citizens is the failure to act upon complaints. People who are prepared to expose and report wrongdoing, instead of being rewarded with remedial action, find that their complaints fall on deaf ears or do not elicit the appropriate response.  This lead to a sense of frustration and helplessness which further emboldens those who wish to run afoul of our laws and by-laws. Lawlessness then increases rather than decreases.

Each day all kinds of injustices, however small, are meted out to citizens. And there is no response from the Authorities. It is as if these wrongs do not merit their attention.

Whether it is a response to illegal vending, squatting, littering, stealing of electricity, and water, noise nuisances, traffic violations and other grouses, a culture of indifference is strongly taking root in our society. This can only morph into a culture of privilege.

The Local Government Authorities are not the only ones to blame. Government has failed to stamp out the growing trend of illegalities in society, and in fact they appear to be rewarding it. Even though for years, the Government has said that it will not entertain new squatting, it continues to regularize new squatters and even to reward them handsomely with compensation. It is rumored that a recalcitrant group of squatters even had the temerity to demand an obscene of money as a condition for removal from State land.

A culture of lawlessness and disorder has become pervasive. On the roadways, vehicles barefacedly breach the laws and drive into incoming traffic. Persons are being allowed to drive and park in the pedestrian and cycle lanes on major public roads. Nothing is being done.

Loud and deafening music are emitted from massive speaker boxes in motor vehicles and no action is being taken. Heavily tinted vehicles can be seen traversing our roads every day, the owners flaunting the breach of our laws with impunity. Drug addicts are creating havoc with their stealing. And persons can be seen walking the streets with knives, ice-picks and other dangerous weapons in their waistband.

Citizens are becoming apathetic and helpless in the face of these happenings. Their pleas and complaints are falling on deaf ears. It is the simple things which often matter to the average citizen, not only the big and ambitious plans of the Government, the benefits of which may never filter down to the average man.

Clogged drains and poor sanitation services are forcing people to live in squalor. And to whom do you complain?

So what can be done to ensure justice for ordinary citizens? Unfortunately, this is not a question that is likely to be asked or answered during the forthcoming Budget debate. The system does not work and is no relief in sight.

(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.)

---

• choked and robbed, pavement, Peeping Tom, system, vendor

---