Rewarding lawlessness

May 29, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Peeping Tom…

(Kaieteur News) – There are times when a problem in Guyana goes on for so long that people begin to believe it cannot be fixed. We shrug our shoulders, mutter a few bad words under our breath, and accept misery as part of daily life.

Traffic, especially, has become one of those national punishments. But the recent turnaround on the East Bank Public Road has proven that when there is leadership, urgency, and enforcement, things can improve.

Not long ago, travelling on the East Bank was an ordeal fit for a man serving hard labour. The road works created confusion and delay, yes, but the real problem was indiscipline. Drivers refused to wait their turn. Minibuses, trucks and cars would “bore” from every angle. One lane suddenly became three. People blocked junctions. Others drove on shoulders and corners. Everybody wanted to get ahead, and in the process nobody moved.

The result was total gridlock.

A journey to the airport became an adventure requiring prayers, packed snacks, and a flexible airline ticket. Persons missed flights. Businesses lost time. Tempers flared daily. The roadway became a living monument to confusion.

Then the President intervened personally.

And whatever one thinks of him politically, the facts are difficult to deny. He instructed that work continue around the clock. He ensured that police traffic ranks and other personnel were placed strategically along the roadway to direct the flow of traffic.

And it worked. The results have been close to miraculous.

Yes, there are still delays. No major roadway under repair will flow perfectly. But the difference is that traffic now moves. Most times, one can reach the airport in roughly an hour, which is about what the journey took before the repairs started. That is no small achievement considering the volume of vehicles now using the East Bank corridor.

The lesson here is straightforward. Traffic problems in Guyana are not caused only by roads. They are caused by behaviour. And behaviour changes only when there is enforcement.

Which brings us to the East Coast Public Road.

Anybody travelling daily between LBI and the beginning of Buxton knows that the situation there has become unbearable. The traffic crawls at all hours. Morning, midday, afternoon, evening — it hardly matters anymore. A man can leave Georgetown believing he has enough time to spare and still find himself trapped in a moving parking lot.

Many people assume the problem is caused by the section at Buxton where the two eastbound lanes merge into one. But that is only part of the story. The real problem is indiscipline — the same disease that once infected the East Bank Public Road.

Drivers create an unofficial third lane. Others race through side streets in neighbouring villages, bypass long lines of waiting traffic, and then force themselves back into the queue after Buxton. Some behave as though traffic laws apply only to fools willing to obey them.

And what happens then? Everything locks up.

The law-abiding driver who patiently waits his turn is punished. The reckless driver who cuts the line is rewarded. The end result is frustration, confusion, and gridlock stretching from LBI through Annandale and beyond.

Sunday to Sunday.

The situation is especially maddening because the solution is not mysterious. We have already seen it work on the East Bank Public Road. What is needed is enforcement — sustained, visible, aggressive enforcement.

Not just one or two police ranks standing at the Annandale junction while chaos unfolds a few hundred yards away. The entire corridor needs monitoring. Officers are needed along the approaches where drivers create illegal lanes and attempt clever shortcuts through village streets.

The problem is that enforcement campaigns in Guyana often last about as long as a New Year’s resolution. There is a burst of activity for a few days, perhaps a week, and then slowly the old habits return. The cones disappear. The ranks vanish. The lawbreakers regain confidence. Disorder resumes normal service.

That is why this issue now requires presidential attention.

The President should come undercover one afternoon and experience it personally. Sit quietly in a vehicle somewhere between LBI and Buxton, say around 16:45 hrs, and observe the daily torture endured by people simply trying to get home. Watch how a handful of selfish drivers can create misery for thousands. Watch how one illegal third lane can choke an entire roadway.

He would quickly discover that the East Coast traffic problem is not merely an engineering issue. It is a discipline issue. And discipline, unfortunately, does not enforce itself.

The East Bank Public Road showed that when government acts firmly and consistently, order can return surprisingly quickly. The East Coast now cries out for the same seriousness. Otherwise, law-abiding citizens will continue to suffer daily while the boldest lawbreakers race happily ahead.

In Guyana, too often, patience is punished and bad behaviour rewarded. That cannot and should not become our national traffic policy.

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

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• East Bank Public Road, Lawlessness, Peeping Tom, Rewarding, traffic

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