This is a cyclical society. That is to say when it has been decided how a problem should be solved, that decision is rarely permanent. Invariably not long after any momentous resolution has been announced, the problem comes back to haunt us again … and again … and again. This is particularly true of the minibuses. Legislators have changed the law, as they did in 2008, Traffic Chiefs have enforced that law spasmodically, and every now and again minibus associations have committed to complying with the requirements, but in the end, nothing changes.
Pick up a newspaper at random for any year and there will be letters from the public complaining about the minibuses − about their habits of speeding, dangerous driving, refusal to pick up the elderly and infirm and the uncouth behaviour of their untidily dressed conductors and drivers. Above all else there will be protestations about the vulgar music played at ear-splitting decibel levels sufficient to deafen everyone in the immediate neighbourhood, never mind the passengers in the offending bus.
Even although they are in private hands minibuses are our major means of public transportation, and as such should be subject to rules. Some of these are on the statute books already, but as mentioned above there is no consistent enforcement, so the minibuses continue on their own merry, lawless way.
There have been various proposals for larger, publicly owned vehicles to come into operation, as these would be comfortable, which the ‘Gie s/he a squeeze’ minibuses are not. Most important, they would not inflict loud music with indecent lyrics on their passengers. Unfortunately, they would fail to make money, as the one experiment when this was tried many years ago demonstrated. Apart from anything else, larger buses require fixed stopping points, and Guyanese like to hail a bus anywhere they want on the road, and they particularly like to be dropped off anywhere they want.
But there is something else too, which is part of the reason, although certainly not the whole one, for why it has proved so difficult to stop the music in minibuses. Somewhat perversely quite a few passengers like the loud music, and quarrel with any fellow traveller who wants it turned down, as will the conductor. From anecdotal accounts it appears that it is not uncommon for a passenger complaining about loud music to be evicted from the bus – an illegality even under current legislation.
The problem is that we have grown up in a society which is plagued by noise nuisance, and minibuses are just one aspect of that culture. It has been reported that schoolchildren wait for particular buses at the park that play often vulgar music at high volume. Aside from the sociological consequences of this, there is also the matter of damage to hearing.
Police personnel ride in the buses, but they do nothing about any transgressions, including that of dealing with the loud music, but then they too are immersed in the noise culture. In addition, it has been alleged in the past that some police personnel own minibuses, which would curb any inclination they might otherwise have for implementing the law. And then there is the corruption of the traffic police, and the fact that an unknown number of minibus operators are prepared to pay bribes to avoid being charged.
It is no news to many people, including our politicians, that repeated exposure to loud sound causes varying degrees of deafness, and that children are particularly vulnerable. But for some reason or other no health minister has ever taken on the challenge of an ongoing campaign to sensitise the population to the dangers of noise. Where minibuses are concerned, there is an additional factor, and that is research indicates that fast music of any kind encourages speeding. However, the police hierarchy, it seems, does not know about this, although it lavishes endless words on the public about the dangers of speeding.
As already noted, the music systems in minibuses are just one manifestation of our noise nuisance problem, although it has been addressed specifically in the legislation. An amendment to the Summary Jurisdiction Act of 2008 which came into effect in February 2009 prohibited the driver of a motor bus or hire car from playing music while plying its route or parked in a public place. The sanctions were not insignificant since they included fines and imprisonment. However, in April then Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee got cold feet, and in agreement with the minibus association allowed operators who imported buses with original combined radio deck/CD players and with two speakers already installed on the dashboard or front doors, to keep them. Furthermore, if these were stolen or damaged they could be replaced as long as they were of a similar specification. However, no amplification of sound would be permitted.
Exactly how long the new law was observed is difficult to say, but in any case it took relatively little time for the situation to return to the status quo ante. In 2013 public outrage was expressed when a citizen suffered a heart attack after an altercation with the conductor about the playing of loud music on a Route 44 bus. By the time they got him to the hospital he had already died. Inevitably there were calls yet again for music in minibuses to be banned.
The coalition government tried the voluntary approach, whereby in February 2019 it launched a Code of Conduct for public transportation services in conjunction with the United Minibus Union. Among various other things such as the wearing of uniforms and no discrimination against the elderly, those with disabilities and non-nationals, there was the prohibition on loud and offensive music and offensive language. Undoubtedly reflecting a somewhat more realistic approach than the politicians, union head Mr Eon Andrews said that in order to properly implement the code, there was need for more rigorous enforcement of the traffic laws. This was against the background of yet another accident involving a speeding minibus when two women died.
The current situation now is as it always was; nothing has changed, and citizens are once again taking to the letters column to voice their frustrations. One would have thought that it might have come to the government’s notice that if it wants to promote tourism it will have to do something about the minibuses, and bring them more into line with what obtains elsewhere. The question of safety on the roads has to be taken seriously, in addition to which the crass behaviour of our minibus drivers and conductors has to be curbed. There also has to be a cessation of the playing of music in the buses, however much the passengers object. As one letter-writer to this newspaper said, minibuses are not mobile night clubs, and if someone wants to hear music they can go to one of the many clubs around, or listen to it in the privacy of their home.
As usual permanent change all comes down to systematic enforcement of the law, not the short-term campaigns to which the police are so addicted. But without reform of the traffic police and a clamp-down on corruption, we can anticipate that the letter-writers will be kept busy for a long time yet.
