Dear Editor,
The citizens of Guyana and I continue to bemoan the wanton usage of sirens by vehicles that are not readily identified as emergency vehicles.
We have been subjected to this inconvenience on our roadways since August 2020. The citizens have complained profusely and I, as their parliamentary representative, have used the legislative process to express the national dismay.
During the consideration of the estimates in February 2023, I submitted several questions pertaining to the vexed issue and was reassured that the laws would be tweaked to include senior government officials and members of the diplomatic corps. Further, in May 2022, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Commissioner of Police and the Traffic Chief, Ramesh Ashram, addressed this matter at a meeting with private security firms and made clear that sirens are reserved, by law, for vehicles used by the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force, the Fire Service and ambulances.
To date, we have not seen any signs of rhetoric matching action. There has been no tabling of an amendment to the law and citizens continue to grapple with this problem.
I hereby reiterate calls for the Guyana Police Force to address this matter and I call on the Minister of Home Affairs to table legislation to settle this issue.
This lawlessness must stop.
Yours faithfully,
Geeta Chandan-Edmond
Attorney-at-Law
