Dear Editor,
Last year, I penned two letters in your newspaper, one dated 22-04-2023 and the other sometime in July 2023. I raised serious concerns about government flooding our streets and road with speed humps. There is a difference between speed humps and speed bumps. The humps are more aggressive while the bumps are milder. At the time of publishing those letters, it was estimated that our roads had about 55,000 speed humps. Despite pointing out that speed humps has a 90% harmful side effect and will do more harm to this country, our government, and by extension, the Ministry of Public Works continued to flood our roads with even greater numbers and closer proximity. Even short streets of about 150ft may have 3 speed humps. This situation can be best described as vehicle muzzling. The estimated speed humps across our country now has reached approximately 100,000. This figure may be greater because I haven’t managed to get figures from some areas.
Editor, this course of action I understood was a direct response to the high volume of recklessness happening on our roads. After deploying approximately 100,000 speed humps, the carnage on the road is still out of control and even worse. I explained it in my last 2 letters that it will not work and the reality has proven exactly as predicted. I specifically warned that speed humps has severe economic implication. I have never seen or heard Guyanese complaining about high cost of living and economic hardship as experienced for the longest while. It is well documented and explained on several mechanical forums on Google and YouTube how speed humps causes vehicles to burn three and four times more fuel. When a vehicle has to maneuver in first and second gear repetitively over long periods it will consume excessive fuel. With 100,000 speed humps across this country, which translates into a normal journey, consuming one gallon of fuel will eventually consume about three gallons. This repetitive hopping every 30 seconds is responsible for the high fuel consumption and this forms the basis of high cost of transportation. Every living economic activity in this country depends on transportation. High cost of transportation have multiplying effects. Depending on how many layers of production are involved, we have seen prices for goods and services double and triple.
Since last year, taxies, delivery trucks and general transportation providers were conscious of the excessive rising cost of operation. This was not only due to high fuel prices but also excessive fuel consumption due to speed humps and the frequent spending on expensive replacement parts. Parts that were supposed to last 3 years are now changed to as little as 8 months. Every cost mentioned above is eventually passed down to consumers. This is how flooding our country with speed humps plays a significant role in the high cost of living. Editor, I have said it before, speed humps are not the solution to the recklessness and madness on our roads. Government literally have hundreds of options to bring this madness to a screeching halt. While high cost of living is squeezing the life out of Guyanese, finding the right solutions to this problems is imperative. Government needs to reverse this bad decision of muzzling vehicles and to implement laws and systems to hold drivers and vehicle owners accountable.
Sincerely, Colin Woolford
