We have a number of folks with very perceptive eyes writing columns or letters to the press on a daily basis pointing out various traumas or irregularities in the country. Nothing wrong with that; attention should be brought to such things – full attention. However, I often think that those folks should also be turning their eyes to some of the things that are going right in our society, but many such observers, most of the time, don’t go there, as the Americans say, thereby presenting us with a somewhat skewed picture. Against that spectre, therefore, once a year or so in this column, and more often than that in private, I like to pay some attention to developments in Guyana that cause me to say, “Ah glad tuh see duh.”
Recently, for example, for the first time since I returned to Guyana, I was impressed to see traffic policemen at rush hour in almost every junction in the city. It came apparently unannounced, but it was a welcome sight for what it implied and also for what it produced because suddenly, in those periods, the speedsters and the lane switchers disappeared, as did the vehicles running red lights, and the ones double parking in two-lane roads. The overall difference in traffic behaviour was striking; all from the presence of some uniformed officers. The word is that it was a temporary training exercise for new recruits, but whether so or not it was instructive in that it showed how quickly our traffic insanities, or at least some of them, can be reined in. So in a time when all and sundry are throwing in the towel on the state of our traffic, the change in behaviour was enough to leave one saying about the officers at the junctions, “Good move; ah glad tuh see duh.”
Anyone who drives in Guyana with any regularity can attest to the general bumpy condition of the surface of our roads. Even in the apparently better sections, with problems invisible to the casual look, the vibrations in the vehicle tell you about the irregularity on the road surface below. And then, one quiet holiday afternoon, you’re driving westbound on the Embankment Road, when, with no sign to prepare you, your vehicle is suddenly operating on a dead smooth stretch – no bumps; no vibration; no suspensions chatter; you could almost take your hand off the steering wheel. Now, before you get too excited, I must admit it’s a short stretch, perhaps no more than 200 yards, and then it’s back to the bump and grind. The stretch of almost North-American-standard roadway is immediately in front of the Caricom building, and whether that is pure coincidence or not, it’s worth pointing out as an example of Guyana being able to measure up in the face of those who see incompetence at every turn. As an acquaintance from Mon Repos put it, “Dat tell yuh when we wan fuh buil a proppa road, awe dis know how fuh do am.”
A small one: I’m after some chester – I’ve been a chester man from small – so I step into Maggie’s popular lunch place in town last week chasing some. Normally you line up and jostle for position, but Maggie’s, I am here to tell you, has gone upscale in that they now have a numbering system for service. Now mind you, the guy next to me was in a quandary. “Numba, buddy? Wha kin o ting is dis?” And he moved off down the line trying to pull off the old time jostle, but the ladies behind the counter ignored him, and kept calling the numbers. Congrats to Maggie’s showing the way in their service; it’s a step forward, and even the jostler will come to see that. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to be in there another day and hear him informing another potential jostler, “Hear na, man; um doan wuk suh. Tek a numba; get wid de programme.”
Some of the things that shine a good light are not exactly mainstream, so in case you didn’t notice we now have trucks in this country with the capability to pump cement mix three or four storeys high. For us, it’s a new building technology, and you may not have noticed it, but it has arrived, and before too long the old technique of hauling up cement with a pulley, one swaying bucket at a time, will be virtually extinct; you’ll have to go to a museum to see a picture of that system. There is one of these high-tech cement pumpers operating on a building going up in the neighbourhood where I live; every time I pass it, I say, “Ah glad tuh see dat.”
This week I was present at the official opening of the impressive Wings Aviation hangar in Ogle. A towering metal structure, boasting open space measuring 100’ x 100’, the Wings building is another peg in the upward story of aviation in this country that has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. If you’re dubious about the claims of improved business in Guyana, take a drive up to the Ogle Aerodrome some day – preferably in the morning with the flights heading out. You will see an impressive and well-maintained area housing several aviation operators, in smartly decorated buildings, including a new terminal, running scores of interior flights and the start-up of regional carriers such as LIAT. This Wings contribution from the Ronald Reece family comes propelled by the development of Ogle generally which is in the onward and upward gear. One could well imagine a tourist, returning to the Ogle airport after many years, saying, “I am quite impressed to see the infrastructural enhancement and the implementation of cutting edge technology now being implemented here.” A statement like that could well draw a proud Guyanese retort, “Ah know wha yuh mean, buddy. I glad tuh see duh, too.”
