Give jack his jacket

Sep 27, 2026 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists, News

(Kaieteur News) – A man stuck in traffic on the East Bank one morning finally lost patience. He looked ahead. Traffic was moving. He looked to the front and traffic was moving. He looked to the back and traffic was moving He looked to his right side and traffic was moving. He looked to his left side and traffic was moving.

“Wait nah,” he said. “So how come everybody moving except me?”

His passenger looked at him and said, “Because you is the only one following the traffic rules.”

There is plenty left to be desired about traffic management in Guyana. Sometimes the police seem to disappear precisely when motorists need them most. A bottleneck develops, vehicles begin squeezing into every available inch of road, somebody decides that the shoulder is actually a passing lane, and another driver suddenly discovers that the rules of the road are merely suggestions.

But let us give credit where credit is due. Every weekday morning and afternoon, when the East Bank and East Coast Public Roads are carrying thousands of vehicles, the traffic authorities are out there doing a job that is easy to criticize and much harder to perform. They stand in the sun, rain, fumes and noise, directing traffic and keeping vehicles moving. And anybody who has watched what happens when there is no one around to impose some order knows exactly what that means.

Without the traffic police, some intersections would probably require air-traffic control. This is not to say the system is perfect. Far from it. More police visibility at strategic points could prevent indiscipline before it becomes gridlock. Better enforcement, better planning and smarter traffic management are still badly needed.

But every morning and every afternoon, those officers are performing a thankless public service. So next time traffic moves steadily along the East Bank or East Coast, spare a thought for the people in uniform making it happen. Because without them, Dem Boys suspect that all hell would break loose during peak hours.

Talk half. Leff half.

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