TONIGHT, some animals will die. Some will be seriously injured. The reason is that dangerous squibs, firecrackers and fireworks banned by the state will be used, not surreptitiously, not by some mischievous little boys but by grown up people who will display these things openly for everyone to see.
Actually, there are fireworks that do not make that reverberating sound that kill the animals. But the crazy people who will use them tonight do not buy that type.
And so, you ask yourself where are the police. I once noted if you smoke a joint any day at Bourda Market or at Stabroek Square, the police will travel faster than light to get there. But if you spread a sheet on the roadway and sell dangerous squibs and fireworks, you will be successful because the police will never show.
I live on a roadway that has become perhaps one of the busiest pathways in the entire country and on a roadway where some of the country’s important places sit. From Sherriff Street to the Ogle Roundabout, on the Railway Embankment, here are the places you can find:
DSL Supermarket
CARICOM head office
The American School
Rama Krishna School
EXXON temporary head office
Aquatic Centre
Giftland Mall
Movie Towne
Massy Supermarket
ISKCON of Guyana Hare Krishna Study Centre
Of course there are many more like a few construction companies, a dentist surgery, five Chinese supermarkets etc. Count the blocks from Sherriff Street to the Ogle Roundabout.
There are three- Conversation Tree, UG Road, Industry Public Road. This is a place where police vehicles could be seen several times in a day.
Yet this corridor from Sherriff Street to Ogle is a huge ocean of noise nuisance each night, especially from a car-wash place; guess where? Opposite CARICOM Secretariat. And from Movie Towne car park.
Here is something that you ought not to dismiss lest you be accused of human bestiality. The mother-in-law of the owner of one of the most known companies in Guyana lives right next to my home. This lady is 86 years of age. One evening the noise was too much for her. She threw up. I swear on my family (though I am not a religious person) that this information is truthful.
The noise from that car-wash and Movie Towne is louder than any pop concert anywhere in the world. Yet, for all the years I lived there, the ubiquitous police force has never intervened even though that area is so busy and important, the police are always driving up and down that corridor. But they hear the noise but never stop.
So, tonight, the animals will die (I wish I was a firearm licence holder but I am not going to expand on that statement; it is for you to read between the lines) because the sound of the firecrackers in Pattensen, Turkeyen, Cummings Lodge and Industry will kill them.
And there will be no police patrol to be seen. The police station that has jurisdiction for the corridor between Sherriff Street and UG Road is the Turkeyen Police Station behind UG in Sophia.
The ranks in the police station will hear the firecrackers but they never intervene. The noisy fireworks go on from 23:30 hours onwards way past the uncivilised hours of the morning. I have seen this, year after year where I live, and I can tell you those firecrackers really hurt those animals, both cats and dogs.
I know my country. It is going to happen tonight and the police will not intervene. The next morning, we will read on Facebook about how many pets have died. Then there will be a repeat in 2026, then again in 2027. When will it stop? I don’t think it ever will. If you go to the markets throughout Guyana this morning, you will find the firecrackers and squibs being openly sold
I hope you dance the night away this evening with the one you love. If you are young, then, let the exuberance of youth run wild and free. Youth must be enjoyed because when the sweet bird of youth flies away, it never returns. Youth is like a rose. Its life is destined to fade.
So please enjoy yourself and the music. Each Old Year’s Night, I yearn to dance one particular song which no other song can replace in my heart. It is the instrumental brilliance of Barry White titled, “Love’s Theme.” The nostalgic, romantic, ethereal, eternal strings in that song make you fall in love with the person you are dancing with. Here are the lyrics of Love’s Theme:
Play our love’s theme tonight
My love’s here, it’s no dream tonight
It’s been so long
Since we’ve danced to our love song
I know the melody that made her mine will be
The melody that keeps her close to me

Play our love’s theme once more
Make her feel, like she felt before
While the lights are low
Please, let the music flow
I know that the melody that made her mine will be
The melody that keeps her close to me

Ooh, play our love’s theme again
Touch her heart, touch her soul and then
As we sip the wine
Her lips will come to mine
I know that the melody that made her mine will be
The melody that keeps her close to me.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.