Dear Editor,
First, I must say I am glad to see some level of enforcement with regards to littering. I would like to see though, a strategy to deal with littering and it cannot be limited to enforcement. How about more bins, and not only bins, but a system to clear the bins when it is full. I would like the government to ensure every minibus has a sign placed near the entry that states ‘do not litter’. Citizens can assist. On a number of occasions, I drove past littering buses and told a traffic officer on the road to stop the bus and at least warn them. Citizens you are the guilty ones. Please if you go to the beaches, creeks, sea wall or public places, please walk with your garbage bags. Please TV and radio stations, do some community service. I would like you to make some appeals to the polluters to stop littering. Parents, please educate your children. I recall teaching my children not to litter, and one day, I threw something through my car window and immediately my daughter, about 10 at the time, called me a litter bug. But wait, parents are the major offenders. It has to be the opposite way. I recall after I completed the clearing of the East Coast of garbage after the 2005 flood, I gave a talk at the Golden Grove School assembly. I spoke about littering. Later a parent called and asked if I was Mr. Bisessar. I said yes. She said she threw something in the yard and her son told her, “Mr. Bisessar said not to litter”. I recall some years ago I was teaching at Rama Krishna School in Kitty.
The yard was always in a mess. I told the teachers that we need to do something and they said it was impossible. Well, I always go against the general negative beliefs, so I commenced to talk to my class. It was Form One in the upper section of the primary school. They stopped littering, and in fact, commenced to tell others to stop littering. I did write before, and indicated, academic instruction is not enough to create a well-rounded person. So, a lot can be done in the school system. We can be taught to respect the environment.
On another issue, can someone in the government please do something? I have seen a number of videos and pictures where excavators and other heavy-duty machinery use the roads without any precautions and destroy the roads. Just recently, I received one where an excavator was turning at Reliance Canje Public Road, and I was appalled to see the damage it caused. Long ago, when these pieces of equipment traverse the roads, there would be persons with boards who would place them on the road for the equipment to run on them. This is an appeal to owners and the authorities to take action to stop this lawlessness. Tractors, if I am not wrong, tractors with cage wheels have to remove the one on the right hand side when they traverse the roadways. This is to prevent accidents. But even if you owners do not remove it, can you not just stop, take a stick and remove the bulk of the mud? They traverse the roads leaving a trail of mud that can cause serious accidents, especially when it rains. Please owners, you are feeding the nation, but please have some respect for your fellow road users. As I am dealing with a number of issues and some has to do with respect for the environment and fellow citizens. I would drive for a month and not toot my horns. The light changes and immediately a few persons toot their horns. In Germany, I think it is a heavy fine for doing this. A person is trying to enter traffic from a minor road. We would not stop to allow him. If we do, we just lose a car space for us to catch up with the traffic. Please be courteous. Or the guy would try to bore out of desperation and this has resulted in accidents. I have seen situations where a car is trying to come out, and is actually on the road, and drivers would toot their horns and swerve around, instead of stopping and allowing the car to enter traffic.
Fellow Guyanese over the years our country has deteriorated in the area of courtesy and respect for each other and our environment. This is an appeal that we make some concerted effort to treat others and the environment with some respect. Believe you me, if we respect each other, there would be a considerable reduction in accidents on the road. In a previous letter I called on the government to install traffic lights on the junction of the Canje and Corentyne roads. I also called for lines and proper signs. Also rumble strips before sharp turns. Hello! Is anyone listening?
Sincerely,
Rajendra Bisessar
BSc. LLB
