Dear Editor,
This letter in Kaieteur News dated July 6, captioned, ‘Pas lil something and you board the ferry’ seems to me like a fairy story. How logical can it be for a man to be sitting in his car from Thursday 10.45 pm until 8 am the next morning to board the 8 am ferry to Supenaam? This doesn’t makes sense to me, and to round it off, this person claimed that he was the second person in the line and some 15 to 20 persons passed him in the line and entered the ferry. At no time does this happen at the Parika or Supenaam stellings. I am not swearing for the officers who are manning the gates, but on my many travels to and from the ferry, when I approached the gate the first thing the gateman did was look at his booking list.
If your vehicle is booked, say, two hours before the travelling time you would be allowed to enter the stelling then board the ferry. If you arrive late and there is space on the ferry, you will be allowed to get onboard without any bribery; mind you, tickets will only be sold to you if you are booked and when you enter the stelling. A copy of the same list is with the person who is directing the vehicles to enter the ferry to make sure that your vehicle is booked. This system was put in place to make sure that there is transparency at both stellings.
It is good that the letter writer could recall that there was a booking system at the time the ferries arrived, but shortly afterwards the bullying and bribery took over under the former administration. Since the coalition took office I have seen an improved system and good coordination by the Transport and Harbours Department. There is no doubt there might be petty bribery, but not to the extent that this writer is elaborating on. According to him all the vehicles that passed him and filled the ferry paid a bribe, but no one will buy that story.
Yours faithfully,
Mohammed Khan
