Phagwah or Holi is a Hindu religious holiday which signifies the triumph of good over evil. On Phagwah last Tuesday while observing the people wet and colourful, the sound of motorcycles racing through the street set the car alarms off. Young men seated in their arrogance with no helmets on are seen daily in the streets of Guyana. The bloodshed on the roads does not seem to concern them. Reports like the press release last month from the Ministry of Home Affairs about a 100% increase in road fatalities this year compared to last year, they seem to ignore. Sixteen people were killed between January 1st and February 18th this year compared to eight last year. The silly ones who vroom through the streets, with no helmets on perhaps look at such reports and scoff like they have assumed the identities of cats with nine lives or Marvel superheroes.
On Phagwah this year, while celebrations occurred around the country and no alcohol was to be allowed, the ones who believe they are immortal with no helmets on, drinking and driving or speeding, perhaps did not think about the four that died at Greenwich Park Public Road, East Bank Essequibo on Monday. A motor lorry and a bus collided killing the bus driver Vernon Prowell and passengers Margaret Kennedy, Olga Reddy, and Elvis Charles. No one joins a minibus expecting to die in it.
The ones who drink and drive perhaps do not pour libations to their ancestors or pray before they imbibe and embark on what could be a disastrous journey. Many will not awake until they cannot wake. There is no rising from the grave for these cats with nine lives when they are bloodied and cold. No decision can be made then to wear helmets, or seatbelts, to not speed or to not drink and drive.
On Sunday morning there was an accident at No.19 Public Road Corentyne Highway. Shelliza London and Qualis Crawford died. It was reported that the driver lost control and the car ended up in a trench.
The numbers keep increasing since the report of up to February 18th. On Thursday last week, it was Samlall Mahaice of Stanleytown West Bank Demerara who lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a culvert.
On March 2nd two men who were riding a motorcycle collided with a car on the No.79 Public Road, Corentyne, Berbice. The dead men were Ronny Persaud and Devindra Lakhraj.
In February some of the dead by accidents were 17-year-old Bibi Mohammed who was six months pregnant at the time. Mohammed and her 16-year-old sister Maria were on an electric bike, riding slowly in the corner of the road according to their mother when a motor lorry driver said he felt his lorry “bump up” and when he investigated realized that he had ran over the two girls. Road users do not always see each other in Guyana. Whether it is the ones in the trucks who drive recklessly because they know smaller vehicles are at their mercy or whether it is the ones whose visions are impaired from the tint on their vehicles being too dark, lives continue to be lost.
In February Altaf Lalman also lost his life on Guyana’s dangerous roads. The accident occurred along the Crabwood Creek Public Road. A pickup collided with the motorcycle Lalman was riding. The pillion rider Asma Lalman was also injured in the accident. Altaf was only twenty-one years old.
But he was not the only twenty-one-year-old to have lost his life while riding a motorcycle in February. Anthony Pierre died a day after Altaf when he lost control of the motorcycle, he was riding at a fast rate on Vlissengen Road. He crashed into a utility pole and died.
Samantha Moffatt lived in Haslington New Scheme East Coast Demerara. She was a mother of six and a vendor in Bourda Market. I knew her. Whether it is family, friends, or associates, we all know people who have been lost to the reckless ways of Guyana’s drivers. The 24-year-old driver of Buxton was speeding on the Enmore Public Road when he lost control and landed in a trench. Moffatt was flung into the trench and lost her life. Moffatt’s mother also died in a vehicular accident a few years ago.
In February a motorcyclist also rode into a parked lorry on Auchlyne Public Road. He was 24-year Kelon Anthony Smith of Limlair Village, Corentyne. Devendra Khan, 19 years old, also died early February when he crashed into a koker on the motorcycle he was riding.
The regular occurrence of deaths on Guyana’s roads is frightening. And sadly, it seems that most of the people are not learning. When I observed the reckless ones setting off the alarms on Phagwah day or when I observe the daily recklessness, I am convinced that many Guyanese do not value their lives, or the lives of others. I must also question their intelligence for who sees the consequences of reckless driving and continues to be reckless. To believe that you are such a great driver that the accidents you see or read about will never involve you even if you are reckless, is stupidity. Have Guyanese been beaten from childhood into a stupor? Are we so impatient, so arrogant or careless that we cannot take more care on the road? The bodies that have been gathered by the guardians of the afterlife are not mannequins. Everyone who died had a family. Their lives were of value. Their stories were being written. Was it their destiny to be another number in Guyana’s road accidents?
In January some of the dead by accidents included fishermen Mohan Maniram and Zamaan Rafeek. They were on a bicycle and were hit by a speeding car at Devonshire Castle Public Road Essequibo Coast.
Bernard Marshall, a 78-year-old pedestrian also died in January when he was hit by a car on Leonora Public Road, West Coast Demerara. A 22-year-old, Jevon Chappell also died in January when the motorcycle he was riding crashed into a motor van at Foulis Access Road East Coast Demerara. Somdatt Indal also died in January when a businessman drove into a group of people in East Canje Berbice. Others were injured.
In early January a six-month-old baby died when an accident occurred on Unity Public Road. Her name was Devine Khan. Two drivers were driving in opposite directions when the cars collided because one of the drivers fell asleep. Drivers should park when they are tired or drunk.
Even the babies are not protected from the madness on our roads. The blood of Guyanese should not be running on the streets like water. Maybe the spirit of Phagwah will help in good prevailing over evil in this country. May all road users exercise care, caution, courtesy, consideration, and common sense.
