Dear Editor,

THERE’S a saying ‘what goes around comes around’ and although it takes a long while, I’m not surprised to see former President of Guyana and present leader of the PPP/C, Bharrat Jagdeo, penning a Letter to the Editor crying foul and I am quite sure that we will be seeing lots more of letters similar to that. I’m quite sure that the letter was written with the intention of winning the sympathy of the public, but the manner in which it was written shows that they haven’t changed their attitudes and they are still ‘wolves in sheep clothing’.One would assume that given the fact that they’ve lost the last election they might have changed their dictatorial attitudes and try to embark on a mission to win back the voters’ confidence. Instead, Jagdeo and the members of the PPP/C are going about the place telling people that they were cheated and are criticising all the projects the this present government is embarking on while failing to admit to the blunders they have caused. The PPP/C would say all sorts of things to cover their era in governance and the corruption that they have created,but below I will outline some of the changes I saw only recently.

On Saturday 22nd October, whilst myself and others were travelling in a car to Charity, we observed some people of different ethnicities cleaning the parapets on both sides of the roadway (New Road and Somerset). Immediately, two Essequibians who were with us (who happen to be East Indians) began giving praises and started to talk about the atrocities that were happening during the PPP/C’s era with regard to keeping the roadsides clean. Many people, especially residents of Essequibo, might not be aware but for quite a number of years the contract to clean weeds and bushes from both sides of the Essequibo public road (from Supenaam to Charity) was awarded to a favourite of the PPP/C (Dax he’s known as) to a tune somewhat in the vicinity of twenty million Guyana dollars per year and from what I gather, people forgot, especially the residents of Essequibo, that someone was being paid to clean the parapets at least twice a year and the only time it might be clean is when the President is going to visit that Cinderella County and only to where he’s going would be clean. Beyond that would remain as it is, especially where is abandoned or places where don’t have residents (which is small) whilst many people kept their areas clean.

They even joked that the contractor seems to forget that he’s being paid a hefty sum of money to clean the roadsides. What is even more shocking to know is that same contractor was also awarded the contract to keep the roadside between Parika and Vreed-en-Hoop clean also for another huge sum of money and there too was left to deteriorate, whilst money was being paid to keep it clean. The twist of it now is that under this new administration, the REO of Essequibo is not giving the contract to one individual, but breaking it up into small pieces and giving to various people/groups or organisations, thus the contract could not be seen as corrupt. During the PPP/C’s era, they had a tendency of giving selected people of their choice contracts way above the value that’s not even qualified and making them extremely rich overnight. BK could attest to this fairytale. In another letter, I will explain how some of these same people coveted a lot of defenceless people’s land and converted them to their own use.

Editor, the only road from Supenaam to Charity is very narrow and if a vehicle is parked between the roadway and parapet, it’s impossible for two vehicles to traverse in opposite directions at the same time. One has to stop and allow the other to pass. If trucks or tractor and trailers or any other heavy-duty vehicle is parked on the roadside, it makes the situation worse. Added to that, the main transportation there are hire cars and the majority of them traverse at a very fast rate which causes me to have a few scares, because many vehicles including trucks would reverse out of their yard/parking place without giving due consideration to incoming traffic and many times the cars I’m in have to brake extremely hard and the errant driver wouldn’t give any indication of being sorry for his actions.

The residents of Essequibo should demand that their roads be widened, because that county’s contribution to Guyana is tremendous, especially in terms of rice and agricultural produce and lots of lives are lost there by road accidents. I will not elaborate on that, but would like to congratulate the Commander and traffic officers of the Essequibo (‘G’ Division) for the job they are doing there. As usual, whenever the traffic ranks are on the road, motorists would flash their lights to warn other motorists that the police are out and would say if they have the radar gun. The motorist would slow down until he/she passes and then increase their speed when they pass. Whilst many would escape that, quite a lot of them have been caught driving under the influence and the last time around 15 of them were caught.

They all were charged and taken to court and some paid fines and at least one of them whom I know got banned for nine months I believe. What is nice to know is that many of them are complaining and whilst others are advising them to try and bribe the officers, I’m pleased to hear that none of the traffic officers is accepting any bribe. If that is happening I haven’t heard of it and I do communicate with lots of people when I visit Essequibo and if someone gets off by paying a bribe, he/she would boast of it and people would hear and talk about it. Many of those I converse with appreciate the work the traffic police of Essequibo are doing, because it’s making their roadways safer. Friday night last was Essequibo Night and the police were out in their numbers with breathalyzer machines and people were saying not a man drank because if they had, quite a number of accidents would have occurred and the various station compounds would have been filled with crashed cars. That used to happen before and now it’s not happening, although there were two nights of Essequibo Night. That is a change for good.

Regards
Sahadeo Bates