THE carnage on the road must stop. Too many innocent lives are being lost. Too many families have been devastated by the wanton and unnecessary loss of life of a loved one at the hands of a killer behind the wheels of a vehicle. Too many have been maimed or incapacitated in one way or another by those who use our roadways like their own private playground.
They do not stop speeding, nor driving under the influence of alcohol. They violate the traffic laws with impunity, because they either can pay a bribe and get off, or get a rap on the knuckles in the court because of some clever rhetorical gimmickry by some hotshot lawyer.

Speeding to overtake another bus to get an $80 fare is a norm, so the lives of a busload of passengers are only worth $80 in their estimation.

One minibus driver, who had been laughing as he raced a friend in a car on one of the country’s highways, was stopped by the police and issued a ticket, after he had been shown the mileage on the speed gun when he attempted to argue.

When he returned to his bus, he said there is a need for some more killings in the country so that things could get “better”. One could only surmise that by “better” he means where anarchy prevails and there is no rule of law enforced. In other words, back to the law of the jungle.

But we are supposed to be humans living in a civilised society, not a jungle where predatory beasts ravage the vulnerable. Our laws were formulated to create order in the societal construct, with the intention of protecting the citizens of the land.

The Non-Governmental Organisation ‘Mothers in Black’ evolved from a mother’s pain at losing a cherished child; and the organisation has had tremendous success in bringing road safety issues to the front burner in the legislative processes. But enacting laws is only one step. Enforcement of those laws has to be a correlative factor for effective solutions, so that the precious human resources of this country could be safe to live productive lives, and pursue goals that could contribute to nation-building initiatives.

With all the laws that are being flouted and even with all the warnings, drivers violate the laws without caring a whit that they are responsible for the lives they are endangering with their irresponsible behaviour.

Meanwhile, the callousness of some police ranks who ignore the suffering of the citizens of the land because of misconceptions and wrong perceptions need to also be addressed, if the trust of the public in the Police Force is to be re-established.

Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud, there are questions being asked by the public, and the Force needs to provide satisfactory answers to those questions. The Force needs to reflect your personal integrity, sir, whatever it takes.

This newspaper is aware of the frustration of honest police ranks who capture perpetrators at great risk to themselves, only to see them set free by the courts on one flimsy pretext or another, and we will support every initiative you undertake to restore law and order in the land.