Dear Editor,
My good friend and ex-Chief Labour Officer, Mr Mohammed Akeel, has written about the Corentyne Highway Stop signs before, but to date it appears that the powers-that-be have not taken note or are reluctant to take corrective action. The four obviously nonsensical, improper and perhaps dangerous ‘Stop’ signs impede the flow of traffic on the Corentyne Highway at Eversham and at No 44/Good Hope villages.
I drive frequently on this highway and more often than not I and most others have been ignoring these Stop signs, not because we are inclined to unlawful or other improper behaviour, but because these are crazy signs as one just happens upon them, and is first surprised then confounded by the stupidity they represent. (For those who are not familiar with the highway, it is noted that the signs are placed on the eastern and western sides of the highway bridges at Eversham and No 44/Good Hope. On both sides of each bridge there are subsidiary roads/dams leading into Black Bush Polder which is south of the Corentyne Highway. There is obviously sufficient justification for Stop signs to be placed at the junction where the subsidiary roads meet the highway (not the other way round, where the highway meets the subsidiary road!).
Last Friday I was stopped by a bright-looking young policeman who politely told me that I should have stopped upon seeing the Stop sign; I took the opportunity of explaining to the smiling officer what I thought was the lack of logic and commonsense in the placement of the signs. I was not surprised when, instead of giving me a traffic ticket, the apparently convinced officer gave me a soft, friendly word of advice that if the sign says ‘Stop,’ then I should stop. Is this a case where ‘the law is an ass’?
Yours faithfully,
Nowrang Persaud
