Dear Editor,
When I wrote to the press on September 25, 2012, I was hardly surprised at the expeditious reaction by the authorities in fixing the bridge in question, if only for the sake of GuyExpo 2012.
The text was as follows:
“It is ironic that the street which borders GPL’s massive facility situated in Sophia (North) has been without light for the longest while, and consequently dangerously trafficked, certainly from the point of view of pedestrians.
“This is to invite the attention of the organisers of GuyExpo 2012 to arrange to have the situation remedied, if only in the interest of the security of vehicles that are usually parked along this Eastern Highway, during events of this kind.
“The organisers may also wish to pay a visit to the collapsible wooden bridge which joins Prashad Nagar to Sophia on the same highway, as this writer has sought to do several times. With the expected weight of traffic over this bridge during the Exposition period, it would be prudent to take action to avert a serious emergency.
“Kindly treat with urgency.”
While attention to the bridge is now suspended, the dangerously poor lighting in Ganges Street, where GPL is so strategically located, persists, waiting for some palpable excuse to be given when it will happen that a pedestrian is run over by a speeding vehicle flashing through the unforgiveable darkness – as if the power plant goes on automatic black-out after 6pm.
A good reason one foresees this real possibility is the persistent negligence of the Police Traffic Department in setting up any traffic control at the reckless junction of Dennis Street, with its traffic flowing carefreely from west/east from/to Sophia, across the determined paths of those who assume that the right-of-way runs through Ganges Street/Eastern Highway. The gasping expletives which accompany frequent narrow escapes from accidents, injury or death, make an eloquent case for the mounting effective traffic signage – which even the frequent police patrols would be bound to observe, while legitimising their predilection for charging motorists for incidental offences.
What sort of Exposition can we expect next?
Yours faithfully,
EB John
