The main opposition PNCR is advocating that all government owned vehicles be colour coded, so that citizens can know whether these vehicles are being used for official purposes or to further the private agendas of the government and political operatives.
This call was made by the party’s parliamentary Chief Whip Lance Carberry yesterday during a press conference at Congress Place. Pointing to the government’s directive that taxis be painted yellow, Carberry called for the colour coding of state-owned vehicles. “This measure is likely to reduce the millions being wasted in fuel, maintenance and repairs for vehicles not carrying out any functions of the government,” Carberry stated.
“The PNCR, therefore, recommends that President Jagdeo uses his imagination and his dictatorial tendencies to order that all vehicles owned by the government and state owned companies be colour coded red,” Carberry said. “These would also include those vehicles used by members of the Cabinet, including the President that are paid for by the taxpayers of Guyana,” he added.
Meanwhile, addressing the decision to colour code the taxis, Carberry said that “the implementation of such a far reaching decision by the executive without any consultation with the stakeholders, is indicative of the conduct displayed by the PPP/C administration over the past 18 years.” While noting that the nation was told that colour coding of hire-cars would make them easily identifiable and help in curbing crime, Carberry opined that this reasoning was flawed. “This flawed reasoning is still to be explained to the average citizen. What is the difference if persons are bent on using stolen vehicles to commit crimes?” Carberrry asked rhetorically.
According to Carberry, it appears as if bandits have a preference for particular types of vehicles and he asked whether this information has assisted the police to reduce or prevent such crimes. He suggested that “the regular reports suggest that they have failed miserably to curb this type of offence. How the police would achieve the reduction of crime by all hire cars having the same colour is mind boggling,” Carberry added.
“Judging from the reports of carjacking for the commission of crimes, it appears that the bandits have a preference for particular types of vehicles. Has this information assisted the police to reduce or prevent this phenomenon?” Carberry said.
Last year, President Bharrat Jagdeo met the owners of taxi services countrywide to discuss measures to modernise the service. Several proposals were made including installing meters to determine mileage and cost, uniform, installing flex glass, banning passengers from the front seat and installing the services’ official logo. The meeting agreed that all taxis should have one colour, while the other measures would be optional.
Earlier this week, the deadline for taxi operators to comply was extended to September following a meeting between their representative body and the President.
