Has no one in the Guyana Police Force noticed the annoying, dangerous and not-so-new development of begging on the road at intersections with stop signs and at traffic lights? Has this practice truly gone unseen by the Commissioner of Police? What about the Traffic Chief and other senior officers? Does no one see this as a problem? Or is it someone else’s problem?
This is not a new phenomenon, but it is annoying and there is a definite possibility that it could pose a danger both to the beggars and to motorists. Some years ago, there was a lone woman who was obviously physically disabled; she may have been mentally incapacitated too, but she had sufficient faculties to know that physical disability would engender an emotional response in many people, which would send them into their pockets.
This woman stood at the corner of Garnett Street and Vlissengen Road every morning during the rush hour with a container of some sort outstretched. Judging from the numbers of motorists dropping something in that bowl every morning it would be safe to say that she did not go hungry. Not only that, over time there was a gradual change in her appearance; the dirty, bedraggled clothing was replaced by new, modern outfits. So clearly, she had found a lucrative pastime.
This woman has not been seen in a while, so she may have retired. However, her idea has caught on. There is a man who is sometimes at Camp and Lamaha streets or at various other intersections along Camp Street doing the same thing. He appears to be mentally challenged, but he is persistent to the point where he is menacing. He has been known to verbally abuse drivers who ignore him or hit their car windscreens with his plastic bowl.
There is also a group of vagrants who beg outside Campsite Restaurant, who would approach drivers when they stop at the intersection.
Others may have been slow to catch on but have now got it nevertheless. Begging at intersections and traffic lights has extended beyond the disabled and vagrant population. At various times of the day and night young people and sometimes small children stand along streets trying to give flyers to drivers. But these flyers are not handouts; drivers are expected to make a donation in return. Then there are those with lettered placards which they expect drivers to stop and read – also begging for a donation.
One would think though that with the number of accidents occurring daily, including the fender-benders which result from people not observing the five Cs – care, caution, courtesy, consideration and commonsense – on the roadway, anything that could distract drivers would be frowned upon. People who weave in and out of traffic forcing drivers to take their attention off the road are not just a nuisance, they are a danger to themselves and to the drivers. And does weaving through cars from side to side of the road not constitute jaywalking? Has the zero tolerance campaign ‘Operation Safeway’ ended? Or is it that it only targets drivers and not pedestrians?
Begging at intersections is already a serious problem, but it has the potential to become worse as it is growing. Perhaps Commissioner Henry Greene, Traffic Chief Neil Semple and the parents and guardians of children involved in this practice can be prevailed upon to put a stop to it now before something really serious happens.
