I write in response to the bills that were recently tabled and passed in parliament over the past few weeks.

In a letter in the Kaieteur Newspaper on June 5th, titled “Implementation not legislation” a Mr. Neil Adams expressed that he is not “enthusiastic” about the recent passage of the Evidence and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill, as well as others from the various sectors.

Mr. Adams noted that legislation serves basically no purpose without proper enforcement.

Firstly Mr. Editor, let me affirm that I am in total agreement with Mr. Adams. Rigid implementation of laws are necessary, however, there is one burning issue that I need to point out.

Almost every time a comment is made regarding poor implementation of laws in Guyana, either directly or indirectly, insinuations are made holding the government responsible for this problem. Needless to say, that the members of the opposition use this to their advantage to levy accusations on Cabinet members in parliamentary discussions.

The government has done its part in passing these legislations which aim at serving the interest of Guyanese. At this point, it is more up to the public than it is to the police force or the government for that matter, to ensure that proper implementation of the legislations.

There was a typical example the other day at Brickdam, where several buses jumped the traffic light as soon as the police who was directing traffic, moved away to write a ticket for a felonious driver. There are also cases where bus drivers place boom boxes in huge garbage bags to dupe the police. It has even reached the level where conductors when cornered, convince passengers to pretend ownership of the bags.

These are just minor examples, but the reality is that the public is in a better position to foster a stronger influence in implementing the legislation. The public needs to gear themselves to take a more vigilant stance in counteracting these misdemeanors instead of just regurgitating the lack of proper implementation of laws.

It should be realised that once the public remains inactive, then it wouldn’t matter which government is in power, we will never be rid of these breaches.
L. BROWN