Dear Editor,
Quick thinking and sound planning by the Minister of Infrastructure, Mr David Patterson and General Manager, Miss Merchant of the Transport and Harbours Department on Thursday, June, 23 certainly averted what would have been a crisis situation at the Supenaam and Parika stellings. I was told that the MV Sabanto went into dry dock from June 17 for servicing, and only the MV Kanawan would be working to service the Supenaam-Parika route. No midday ferry would be working for a month, and having seen the number of vehicles which move agricultural produce from Essequibo, in addition to passengers, I realized that there would be chaos.
I had a meeting to attend in Georgetown so I decided to book my car one day before for the 4am ferry. As I arrived at the Supenaam stelling at 2am, the lines were very long with vehicles stretching from the gate as far the main public road and the side street towards the A Mazaharally sawmill. Inside the compound of the stelling there were almost a hundred lorries with rice and fresh produce from the Pomeroon as well as some cars.
The owners of the vehicles outside the gate were behaving disorderly; all of them wanted to get on board the ferry. Afterwards, I saw Mr Sukhai, the supervisor, come outside and plead with them saying that their vehicles would get on board the ferry at midday, but they weren’t buying his explanation and were insisting that he open the gate so their vehicles could enter the compound. As I sat in my car watching Mr Sukhai talking with them, the situation became dangerous and I thought that they might become violent. Anyhow, they became calm and I was allowed to pass with my car and boarded the MV Kanawan. The sailors loaded the big lorries with rice and agricultural produce last, but in a timely and orderly manner. It took about half an hour and then we set sail for Parika on schedule; the tide was fairly high, and we landed within one hour at the stelling.
As I disembarked for Georgetown, I was wondering what would become of those vehicles that were left stranded at Supenaam. My biggest fear was when I saw even longer lines outside the Parika stelling waiting to board the same ferry as soon as it docked to get back to Supenaam with their goods. These vehicle owners were orderly and they took their turn in going onto the ferry. With all these commuters and vehicles moving from both stellings, the Minister of Public Infrastructure and the General Manager, I understand, decided to work the ferry on three shifts, with the same captain and two female trainee pilots making 6 trips on Thursday ‒ three from Parika and three from Supenaam to clear the passengers and vehicles.
This I considered quick thinking by the General Manager. In all my life travelling with the old and new ferries, I have never experienced one ferry making six trips in one day to clear the backlog of trucks and commuters. When I arrived at Parika stelling on Thursday afternoon at about 2pm to catch the 4pm ferry, I was allowed to park my car on the stelling. My wife had gone to purchase our tickets and only when she came back did I know that the ferry was departing at 2.30 pm instead of 4pm for Supenaam. I saw my neighbour and he told me that the boat was working throughout the day; I felt so happy that we would reach home before nightfall.
With the change of government in 2015, Transport and Harbours Department has come a long way with their new administration. In the past commuters and vehicles had to spend days before they could board the ferry in situations like this. I can remember vividly on one of my trips when I was about to enter the boat in the afternoon going to Georgetown to do business, I was turned down, although I was early and my car had been booked in the morning. Someone who came late with their car was allowed to get on the ferry and I had to return home which was some 15 miles away.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
