Dear Editor

AS the wanton destruction of lives, limbs and property continues on our roads and highways, with the mini-bus drivers being the greatest sinners, it also can and must be said that other categories of road users are also contributing significantly. We must acknowledge that these buses are providing an invaluable service to the people in all of our 10 administrative regions of our country and in the same breath, I can say they have become over the last decades, the most dangerous weapons on our roads and highways; but the question is, can we all do without them? The answer is a resounding no, and while they might be a group of persons or should I say the privileged few who do not use these buses, those persons depend heavily on us who use this vital service daily in every region and route in more than one way.

I can remember when the National Road Safety Council was a vibrant organisation in Guyana, it was headed by one Mr Naraine. I cannot remember this goodly gentleman’s name, but he was from Enterprise on the East Coast of Demerara. There was a slogan “Road Safety is everybody’s business, get involved now.” There were a whole lot of activities for Road Safety Month, including the Best Driver Competition for all categories of vehicles; erecting and painting of signs; lectures at all schools and a host of other activities.

The world has changed, the population has grown, they are far better roads and highways and more of them also; they are also more and more vehicles and faster ones also; a lot of people would not know what the Morris Oxford, the Austin Cambridge, the Consul, the Vauxhall and many others looks like; they were by far slower and sturdier.

All the front pages of our daily papers and social media carried a photograph of the mini-bus which was involved in the accident, thereby claiming the lives of five persons and severely injuring many others. The bus was reduced to what you can describe as a heap of twisted metal. You don’t have to be a police officer or a driver to conclude that speeding may have been the major cause of the loss of so many lives and serious injuries to several persons; the evidence was there to make such a conclusion.

I read the Stabroeknews of Friday 20.12.2019, page 7, written by one Mr Keith Evelyn, a person who a lot of us know that for decades, this gentleman has been associated with the insuring of motor vehicles of all types; his letter was very, very edifying. Paragraph three speaks volumes, but the question is, where do we as a people go from here? Every Guyanese has a critical role to play if we are to get on top of this woeful situation as it is. It can be said that the Ministry of Public Security has done and will continue its efforts to curb this carnage on the road as it currently is.

The Top Cop is on record as making certain comments that surely indicate that they are some rogue traffic cops in the police force and efforts are being made to weed them out; the persons who purchase mini-buses and give to the drivers and conductors to operate also have a role to play. The travelling public have their role to play.

The commanders and each and every member of our police force have a role to play; the magistrates and judges; the teachers, each and every one of us have different roles to play. Because when we are in the confines of our homes, may even be sleeping, we have friends, relatives, neighbours, workers and a whole lot of people who we know on our roads and highways. Mr Evelyn by way of his letter, has made a sterling contribution to make our roads and highways a safer place. I have done before now by way of letters to the editors of our daily newspapers and will continue to so do, in an effort to minimise the loss of lives, limbs and valued property that is wantonly destroyed on a daily basis on our roads. We never know for whom the bell would next toll. Road Safety is everybody business, get involved, not tomorrow, but now.

Regards
Archie W. Cordis