Find the killer

Jul 02, 2026 Editorial, News

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Editorial…

(Kaieteur News) – The deaths of Collis Bristol, called “Cappo,” and Akeem Burgess, known as “Burnham,” on the Railway Embankment at Clonbrook are the latest reminder that our roads have become places where recklessness, lawlessness and, increasingly, inhumanity are allowed to flourish.

What makes this tragedy particularly disturbing is not only that two lives were cut short in an instant, but that the driver responsible allegedly struck the men and fled, abandoning them on the roadway without the slightest regard for whether they were alive or dead. That single act speaks volumes about the erosion of basic human decency. Whatever the circumstances surrounding the collision, there can be no justification for leaving two injured men to die while choosing self-preservation over humanity.

As our news report revealed, public-spirited citizens eventually came to their assistance, but both men were pronounced dead at the Enmore Regional Hospital. Their families have now been left to bury loved ones while grappling with the agonising knowledge that the person responsible remains at large.

The pain of those families is now compounded by frustration.

Residents have complained that the recently upgraded Railway Embankment has become a nightly playground for speeding motorists and drag racers. The irony is painful. Infrastructure intended to improve transportation has, according to those who live there, become a corridor where some drivers behave as though traffic laws simply do not exist.

If these reports are accurate, then this tragedy should surprise no one.

For months there have been concerns about excessive speeding on sections of the East Coast roadway. Yet residents say there has been little visible police presence. It is no secret that the Guyana Police Force faces manpower challenges. Officers are stretched thin by expanding responsibilities and increasing demands. But acknowledging those realities does not lessen the responsibility of ensuring that known danger zones receive meaningful enforcement.

The statistics themselves paint a troubling picture. Only days before this tragedy, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ravindradat Budhram disclosed that fatal accidents have increased by four per cent while road deaths have risen by seven per cent during the current reporting period. Even more alarming is the revelation that speeding accounts for 75 per cent of all fatal crashes recorded so far this year.

Those figures represent fathers, sons, mothers, daughters and friends whose lives ended violently on our roadways.

Another troubling aspect of this latest tragedy is also that it is not the authorities leading the search with the greatest urgency. Instead, grieving relatives and residents have launched their own campaign, even offering a cash reward for information leading to the identification of the suspect.

Their determination is understandable. Families naturally want answers. They want justice. They want to know that the person responsible will face the courts rather than disappear into anonymity.

But citizens should never feel compelled to fill investigative gaps themselves. Offering rewards may produce useful information, but it can also create dangerous consequences, including the possibility of vigilantism or false accusations driven by the lure of money. Criminal investigations belong in the hands of trained law enforcement, supported by modern investigative tools.

Which raises another unavoidable question.

The Government has repeatedly highlighted its Safe City Initiative, promising expanded surveillance through cameras across the country. Citizens have been told that technology is transforming policing and improving public safety. If so, where were these systems when they were most desperately needed?

If cameras cover this corridor, investigators should by now have access to images capable of identifying the fleeing vehicle, tracing its movements or capturing its licence plate. If no such coverage exists along a roadway that residents reportedly identify as a hotspot for dangerous driving, then serious questions must be asked about priorities and implementation.

Technology, however, is only one part of the solution.

Deputy Commissioner Budhram rightly observed that lasting improvements require a culture in which road users obey the law because they value human life, not simply because they fear penalties. That cultural change is desperately needed. But it must be matched by consistent enforcement. Speed cameras cannot replace police visibility. Artificial intelligence cannot substitute for determined investigations. Public education cannot excuse weak enforcement.

For the families of Collis Bristol and Akeem Burgess, discussions about strategies and future initiatives offer little comfort today. What they deserve is swift justice.

The Guyana Police Force must devote every available resource to identifying and arresting the driver responsible. Every camera should be reviewed. Every lead pursued. Every witness interviewed. Every forensic avenue exhausted.

A society cannot permit motorists to kill and simply disappear into the night.

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• Clonbrook, Collis Bristol, Editorial, hit and run

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