Dear Editor,

THE letter in Kaieteur News dated July 06, 2016 and entitled “Pass lil something and you board the ferry” seems to me like a fairy story; even a kindergarten child reading that letter wouldn’t believe it.How logical can this be for a man to be sitting in his car from Thursday 10:45 pm until Friday 8 am to board the 8am ferry to Supenaam? This doesn’t make sense to me; and to round it off, this person claimed that he was the second person in the line and some 15 to 20 vehicles passed him in the line and entered the ferry.

This more looks like a nancy story to me. At no time will this ever happen at Parika or Supenaam stellings. I am not swearing for the officers who are manning those gates on my many travels to Parika and Supenaam, but whenever I approach the gate, the first thing the gateman would do is to look at his booking list to see if my car number is on his list. If it’s on, he would allow me to enter the gate; if it’s not, I would have to park outside the gate until all the vehicles which were booked have entered.

If there is space on the ferry, they would let me in; I saw it happen to many vehicles. Those gatemen sometimes go beyond their duties to help out commuters. I am not swearing for those officers, but something is amiss in this letter. Normally, these vehicles are booked at the scale house, and then it would be sent to the supervisor for perusal. if you have a query, you will raise it with him or her. These officers are friendly and would greet you nice; so to say ‘when you look at their face it turns you off’ is doing injustice to these gate men and the department. Mr Sukhai, the supervisor who has worked at the Supenaam stelling for the past 14 years, told me that sometimes he would work around-the-clock to help out commuters and vehicle owners.

Whenever they come late, they want to force their way through the gate. That is the kind of bullying attitude displayed by some drivers when they can’t get their way. However, I must commend those supervisors and gatemen who displayed tremendous courage in standing firm against this crude bullyism, and at the same time act with great responsibility and restraint.

The picture in Kaieteur News shows vehicles being loaded on the Bartica ferry, MV Makouria, and not the Supenaam Chinese ferry. This picture is misleading to the readers and is sending a wrong message about Transport and Harbours Department.

It is good that the letter writer could recalled that there was a booking system when the ferries had just arrived and shortly afterwards the bullying and bribery took over under the former administration. The ghost writer who penned this letter is, I presume, operating from within the Transport and Harbours Department at Parika, and has a grouse with the new management of Transport and Harbours Department, because he cannot get his own way in doing things, and he is trying to make this new government look bad.
Since the coalition took office, I have seen an improved system and good coordination at Transport and Harbours Department. There is no doubt there might be petty bribery, but not to the extent that this writer is elaborating about. According to him, all the vehicles which passed him and filled the ferry paid a bribe. No one would buy his nancy story.

Yours faithfully,
MOHAMED KHAN