Dear Editor,
About 6:15 am on Monday April 2, 2008, while walking on the Aurora public road not too far away from the police station, I noticed some children crossing and other road signs uprooted and lying by the side of the public road and some in a nearby drain.
I called the police at the Aurora police station which is about two hundred metres away using my cell phone. The phone rang out and continued to do so, so I walked to the station.
Having got there I told the constable on duty that I was calling this station repeatedly and no one was answering. I was totally surprised when he told me the telephone has been down (not receiving or sending calls ) nearly three weeks now.
I enquired from him if there is any other number meaning cell phone numbers that the public can call the police when there is an emergency and his answer was a resounding no. I was so astonished that I stood there staring at him not knowing what to say or what more to ask. Having realized my astonishment he told me, sir, you are not the only person that came here and told us what you are saying and who had to come to the station after not getting through to us.
I made my report about the road and traffic signs and left.
I know that the telephone at the Aurora post office has not been working for about six months . I also know that the telephone at the Neighbourhood Democratic Council’s office next to the police station has been down for in excess of seven months. Of course these offices are very, very important, hundreds of people visit them every day.
But to find out that the telephone at the Aurora police station or any other station has been out of order for more than three weeks and that no cell phone has been placed there as a stop gap measure, is cause for not only the residents of the community but for every Guyanese to be concerned.
I know that somebody from the public relations department of either the police force or the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company is going to try to come up with a reason or excuse for that embarrassing and dangerous situation.
they are being paid to do that, but the public is always the best judge.
Communication is always a very, very important aspect in crime fighting.
Yours faithfully,
Archie W Cordis
