Modern public transport system needed (Part 1)

Oct 24, 2024 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I wish to write this letter with a beautiful heart and love for our country and respect for our President, Government and Cabinet. The aforementioned are doing so much to develop our country, to provide opportunities to our peoples; homes and lands; building new roads and highways; upgrading highways and dams, lands for agriculture, industry & commerce. The action undertaken by the Irfaan Ali government to enhance our nation and peoples, taking us to the modern world is something most extraordinary and appreciative by this writer and I think by most sensible Guyanese.

The purpose of this letter to His Excellency the President and his Government and to the nation is to appeal for serious attention on the public transportation system. Our people are suffering which is pushing most Guyanese towards owning their own vehicle. I see nothing wrong with Guyanese having the ambition of owning their own vehicle. With the systems in place in our country it is quite easy for people to own motor vehicles. Those motor vehicles in their numbers clutter our roads and create more accidents in which many lives are lost.

With this in mind I wish to suggest the following:

1. Most people in this country can barely get themselves to their jobs on time due to clutter on the roads and highways.
2. Getting to work and returning home is an exercise in exasperation, annoyance, depression and frustration.
3. The excessive heat and no air conditioning in public minibuses only compound the trauma of the travelling public. Which covers Guyanese across the board, which crosses race, gender and age, min-buses are often crowded with men, women and children of all ages. With everyone wanting to get home in the afternoons after a long day’s work. It would appear to me in these modern times it is an exercise in torture in hell.
4. Uncouth, rude, demanding and demeaning touts with favoritism by ethnicity at times is most annoying. Some touts have sexual preference for pretty girls.

I know an experience of a pretty young lady who told me while she was in a minibus sitting, trying to get home. A certain man very harsh, hard, crude and rude took his hand and rested it on her upper leg. When she pushed his hand away and objected to his behavior, he took out a firearm and rested it on his leg for her to see. Terrified she started hyperventilating as the man was moving his hand higher and higher to the topmost part of her leg. This shook my heart and tore me apart.

5. I know minibuses are doing quite a tremendous and important service to the nation, as without them we would be in horror for public transport in the country. However, the annoyance of passengers as well as persons in various communities in which these buses run, they play their loud music that is painful and sometimes vulgar to the ears.
6. Overcrowding and speeding also seems to be the norm for many who are basic drivers and not owners. Owner/drivers are usually known to be elegant and functioning within the confines of the law.

The history of transport service in the various counties. ( Part 2)

1. Under the British Government, during the reign of Governor, Sir Francis Hicks I understand had established the first Railway System in South America.

This Railway System was a boom to the people of this nation for public transport and for the transport of goods, mostly consisting of agricultural products. Those who knew of the trains suffer deep anguish in their hearts at this time, knowing what benefits it would have brought to the Guyanese people.

The first Prime Minister of Guyana L.F.S Burnham for some reason decided to close the railway. He sold it to a British gentleman who resold it according to information to an African country for three hundred (300) times above the value he had bought it. What a wise businessman! What a ridiculous Guyanese Prime Minister, then.

During the time of the train service there were also buses that were built mostly of wood, zinc, a chassis with engine. Extremely colourful and well cared for by their owners. They would operate at certain times and in certain districts, by law. The red colour became romantic.

On the selling out of the railway system people were free to take the tracks, they used them to build bridges and host of anarchy took place as the then government claimed they lost control of the situation. This period was shortly after independence. On the closure of the railway system Prime Minister L.F.S Burnham terminated the private bus transport service, which had brought the owners and the community’s success and spinoff businesses much prosperity. With the closure of their businesses life instantly changed and of course every other aspect of life. Migration to region 11 (USA, North America, Suriname, Trinidad, Barbados) became the focal point in the minds of many. A good future was bleak in their eyes.

The L.F.S Burnham Government immediately established a national transportation service, of buses nationwide and imported school buses. They seemed to have gone well in the beginning but eventually, they did not have a proper system of financial accountability in collecting fares. Friends of the bus drivers and conductors would travel for free, the money collected like the toll stations in Region 6 were going into the pockets of the employees and security and constabulary security. The management system worked for a while. Eventually it started to collapse as the employees did not have that ownership perspective in their hearts. The owner of a bus would care their bus. A private bus company would do similar. Parts would disappear. Poor maintenance was a major bugbear; vehicles operating with no oil in the engines and chaos resulted, the bus service could no longer operate.

With that in mind the L.F.S Burnham government did the best they could have done and decided to open up to the importation of minibuses by private individuals. The chaos, the madness and confusion that we face today is as a result of the closure and selling out of the train system and the private transport buses owned by families. Now there is a dependence on mini-buses, the chaos, the sociological problems; the pain in the psyche of those who have to travel in these mini-buses, create much torment and inconvenience to the public at large.

When the buses go on strike the nation is held at ransom. Mini-bus drivers and not necessarily the owners charge double fare on holidays, weekends, nights and at their whim. I do not wish to be misunderstood as there are some elegant mini-bus drivers with professional personality and behavior as there are those who are lewd, vulgar, raw, indecent and criminal.

As the National bus transport service was collapsing, the then Prime Minister came up with the idea to tandem buses in which one bus would be linked to another bus that did not have an engine to transport people in and around, the Georgetown area. He had an epiphany and went through a realization which leads him to publically announce that it was heart wrenching to see how school children were suffering to get transport to and from school. So, the government went out to procure buses. In the process he made arrangements with the Fidel Castro government of Cuba, to purchase a set of buses for the transport of school children, in and around Guyana. A number of buses where imported. On arrival and commencement of use of the buses he was quite disappointed as the buses were gasoline and not diesel. There is a vast difference in the benefits of diesel versus gasoline. It proved too costly to operate. Not too long after all the buses were discarded. Another waste.

I wish to state at this juncture, the then Prime Minister, L.F.S Burnham did indicate that he erred in the closure of the Public Railway System. He wished he had not done it.

What should we do in the Future? (Part 3)   

I have travelled much, and I am grateful to God for that opportunity. Therefore, I have seen much. I firmly believe from the depths of my heart; with all emotion and love for the peoples of this great country, and I mean all peoples in the One Guyana mentality and heart that I share. If this railway system was not closed down and sold, we would have had one of the most modern railway systems, spanning the length and breadth of this country with new areas opening up to service the nation. It pains my heart to think that the culture and service of the railway system was closed down, which affected so many lives.

Governments, authorities, leaders of institutions and organizations must learn to consult with their peoples.

With the above in mind please note the following:

1. I am grateful to God that we have now reached the stage where our oil, gas and extended industries, agriculture and all; gold, precious metals are bringing much wealth to our economy. I have noted the construction of roads, opening of new highways to make transport much easier for our people but I believe that almost immediately our government must look to set up some form of public transport in the form of modern railroads. We are blessed to have friends like China and India. In modern civilization and appear that they are the most capable in providing the construction and management of railway systems.
2. My suggestion is to study countries where modern railways have been a boon to the citizens of those countries, e.g. Amsterdam Holland, Germany and Switzerland and the main European countries. Look at the railway systems in China, even the railway from China to Pakistan. The railway in India astounds the imagination. Railways in China even operate under the sea. We have these friends, Excellency, President Dr. Irfaan Ali/Government of Guyana. Let us invite them. The contracts
3. The Contracts would be too much for one nation so we could split the opportunities to prepare for the glory! For the future of our country! For the future of our peoples and future generations

Public transportation is a most painful thing. Now look at Holland, the rail services in the city operates in a circular fashion. When I was there, I saw a modern electric transport system, impeccably clean and well maintained. It was so cheap to travel on this railway. On asking questions I was told it was so easy; they were basically charging to cover costs and not to make a profit. To keep the people happy, contented, with reliable air-conditioned railway transport. One small fee covered the entire ride. Now I am made to understand that it is a free service, I may be wrong here. There are hardly any motorcars operating due to the fact that the public transport system is so wonderfully planned out (and cheap) that people have no ambition to acquire motorcars. They would have two or three types of bicycles: one for luxury, one for speed and even one for family. Even Russia, the entire vastness of Russia is covered with railway services. Same or similar for India and China which are huge countries and could only survive because of the railways.

Once excellent public transport systems exist and the government with the people try to create a new culture, people will begin feeling happiness, peace and contentment. They will no longer carry that stress and pain in their hearts and minds. With this, a country would prosper so much more. I am not asking to establish a train service for free because these countries when they establish their train services, they did not do it for free. They do it in modern times because they can now afford to do it for free. I say we try to cover costs with a small percentage for future expansions.

Germany:

I know for a fact that in Germany railway travels, children aged five to fourteen years old travel for free with a paying adult. All created in modern times to take stress away from the people. And here again most people would travel with bicycles and a small number with motorcars, as the public train and bus transport service systems are so comfortable and reliable. Many do not see the need of having a motorcar. Again, Germany did not start by giving this service for free but only in recent times as it became prosperous. In the USA and Canada, the subway/bus transport system are most dependable, reliable and cheap to travel on. In New York I know quite a bit about the Long Island Railroad where most professionals in the Long Island area would travel only on the railway or buses and keep their cars parked for special occasions.

This writer recommends brining powerful bus corporations and companies from Brazil, Miami, United Kingdom, to partner with Guyanese individuals and businesses. Establish them in areas where the trains cannot operate and even to operate alongside the trains, or before the establishment of the trains. They do not for to wait for the trains. These buses will be hygienic, most comfortable with air conditioning, televisions which will be sharing messages of national development and education, beautiful music for meditation with instructions on how to meditate etc. These are all just suggestions I am making here as the bus and train service can also become a part of re-educating the citizens, creating a vibrant new culture. I pray that this is seen as worthwhile by the leaders of the country.

Of course, with the trains and buses operating there will be new industries created, new businesses popping up in the various towns. I remember when we would join the train from Rosignol Berbice, there were those fish shops as a kid even after the trains were eliminated, we would stop at Rosignol to get our fish and bread. There was also a spot at the train stop at Mahaicony, romantic in thought in my mind as a child, looking at that old building that I still see there up to recent times where the train would stop to get that fish and bread and snacks. A whole new modern system could be created for commerce and industries everywhere. I have seen this also in South Korea and Japan.

So, what about the mini-buses and drivers? We should train the mini-bus drivers to become operators in the train service and the new bus services. We could train the conductors of the minibuses to become conductors in the new train and bus services. In these services there will be no cash transaction, tokens/tickets must be bought beforehand.

What about the min-bus owners? His Excellency President Irfaan Ali has an extraordinary skill, in bringing people together from various communities, to form corporations, as with community minded youths to work on projects and programmes to aid in their financial wellbeing. An example being the training of youths to make hallow blocks, that initiative was a well thought out one. In the same way we call the investors and mini-bus owners to become partners with major expatriate companies to provide this magnificent public bus and railway transport system, so they as businessmen would be gainfully employed.

Minibuses do not have to disappear. Those who would prefer to have special contracts could operate in between the train and bus services to get persons at certain points. The minibuses in the future could be solar powered or electronic and would operate from the terminals, to shopping areas, to schools, to areas of industries and businesses. Conveniences and environmental concerns

Excellency President Ali and your Government, there is no way that my suggestions for the future can happen overnight. There is also no way in which I might be perfect in my suggestions. My thoughts and ideas could be tweaked to suit the needs and the circumstances as we evolve in this great country, with this great government, for a great future.

I pen this letter with all my love for my country and for my people. For Prosperity for every individual, an end to anxiety, frustration, annoyances, depression and inconveniences, all for the One Guyana Philosophy which I love that you Mr. President have created.

Sincerely,
Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan

 

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• Berbice, Brazil, Island Railroad, Mahaicony, Miami, Rosignol, United Kingdom

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