Faizul Razac’s morning devotion was yesterday disrupted when a speeding car jumped his fence and landed in the living room of the upper floor of his building.
Razac, of Lot 38 Public Road, Bagotstown, told Stabroek News that he had awakened around 4am yesterday to begin preparing for Ramadan observances at the nearby Peter’s Hall Mosque. He said he was in the lower flat of the house reading his Koran, when he was felt “an earthquake like shake” and felt things falling on him. He added that he screamed for his wife, who was in one of the bedrooms which is located in the upper flat of their home with their one-year-old daughter. He said as he looked up, he was left in shock when he noticed the car parked in his living room and the occupants screaming for help.
Razac said he then went upstairs to verify that his wife, Aleema, and daughter, Aneesa, were okay. He added that the four occupants of the car were groaning and upon investigation seemed to be too under the influence of alcohol to exit the vehicle on their own.
As a result, public-spirited citizens, who were awakened by the noise and commotion, assisted them. He said when they were put to stand, it was difficult and they spoke inaudible slurs. They had to be assisted to the opposite side of the road and placed in a car to be taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
An eyewitness told Stabroek News that she was standing on the public road in front of her yard around 4:45am, waiting on a taxi to take her to purchase fish at the Meadowbrook dock. She said because of the tranquility, the sound of a speeding vehicle coming from the opposite side of the road immediately got her attention. She observed the car, PJJ 6704, a burgundy-coloured Toyota 192, speeding southward along the East Bank Public Road. She added that the car was careening from one side of the road to the other, initially leading her to believe that the driver had either fell asleep at the wheel or there was a trainee driver behind the wheel.
“A seh like person fall asleep, then so quick, quick, boom! De car fly miss that post [a lamp and post in front of the house] through dem people yard and climb up duh fence and smash through de people wall and stop…dis thing was so unreal dat car climb dat fence like in a real Jet Lee movie I tell you,” she said.
Checks at the hospital revealed that all four occupants were treated and sent away .The driver, Stabroek News was told, suffered a broken arm.
Razac said that the father of the driver of the vehicle visited him yesterday morning and guaranteed repair expenses of his house. However, he said that the father and occupants later in the day called and told him to reach them at the Lenora Station, where they further changed their story and told him that they prefer to take the matter to the Providence Police Station, the precinct responsible for that jurisdiction along the East Bank. He said they claimed they would then only have to pay a fine, which would be substantially less that repairing his fence and walls.
A visibly shaken Razac lamented that he is not in the financial position at this time to undertake such construction works and felt that the onus was on the drivers to compensate him for damages to his home, since it was due to his negligence.
