There is trouble on our roads. The results of recklessness reached a point of crisis eons ago. It is not now that we are seeing vehicles wrecked or mangled bodies of souls gone too soon. It is not now that the screams of our people are reverberating. Still, the screams pause briefly, and behaviour change does not occur.
The fruits of corruption are manifesting partly because of people being sold the permission to accelerate on our roads. The arrogance of some drivers and motorcyclists also cannot be ignored. They speed, they drink, and drive and they break traffic rules without pause. We see vehicles with the darkest tint and some with the loudest music and they often drive past the police without fear or consequences.
There are too many hands red with the blood of our injured and dead. People buying their driver’s licences is no secret. It exposes how harsh this society is and the desperation of those who want and those who want to receive. We are not ashamed that it is not a secret. We hear allegations about the police deliberately failing some people who go to do their practical driving test. We hear allegations that they do this because they want to sell them their licences.
The revelations about the Guyana Police Force continue to concern us. An institution that is supposed to help keep us safe, play a critical role in maintaining law and order and holding the people accountable continues to lose its credibility. We cannot ignore that the salaries people are paid in the police force are largely inadequate which we can deduce has led to a state of desperation and corruption.
Sometime ago I was traveling in a taxi driven by a policeman. The driver asked me for an excuse. He stopped and another policeman approached the vehicle. They openly discussed the illegal practice of selling drivers licences. They exchanged money and the licences that their customers were waiting for. I sat there listening in disbelief that they did not care that I could hear their conversation. What was even more disturbing was that when I spoke and asked if they did not care, to them it was like a joke. I was even offered the opportunity to buy my driver’s licence when I was ready to drive.
It should be concerning how easy it is to buy a driver’s licence in Guyana. I would say that an investigation should be launched. But how do the guilty investigate the guilty? How do the good policemen and women outshine the ones who bring a bad name to the police force? There seems to be little concern that this practice can send some people to their graves. A society that ignores and excuses corrupt practices will never be whole and the young, middle aged and elderly will continue to suffer.
A few months ago, the president promised a national conversation on road safety. A conversation that is supposed to result in robust road safety and a traffic management plan. But here we are today, still mourning the dead. This national conversation is still to be had. Often in this society instead of being proactive, we are reactive. We wait to hear about multiple dead on the Linden Highway before we raise our voices for the road to be fixed, for the highway to be lit and for people to stop speeding – there were five killed on the highway in May and two killed earlier this month. We sit quietly while another motorcyclist is crushed – earlier this month Christopher Beckles of Norton Street, Lodge died on Princes Street when he lost control of his motorcycle, fell on the road, and was run over by a car. We ignore our shortcomings and are shocked when a teenager is flung from a car and is greeted by her ancestors – eighteen year old Bibi Aleah Ali lost her life this week in Berbice when the car her husband was driving collided with a parked crane. The screams reverberate, tears are shed and then it is back to the usual recklessness.
It is not just that there are many reckless and inexperienced drivers, but we must also have a conversation about the state of some of our roads. It is commendable that repairs are being done to many of our roads even though much of the work seems to be poorly done. What do we tell ourselves when roads are repaired today and there are potholes tomorrow? I also have questions about why some of the roads that are being repaired, are so narrow. There are also too many roads where there are no streetlights, so people drive with a hope and prayer in the dark.
I also have questions about why the repairs and expansion of some roads take so long. An example is Cemetery Road which was supposed to be completed in July 2023. A year ago, we heard excuses that supernatural forces were disturbing the work. Jumbies (ghosts) were causing sickness and scaring workers. One must ask, who invoked the dead? Do the dead not want their peace disturbed and wish for Cemetery Road to not be completed? It is buffoonery when we come up with silly excuses for our failures. The jokes write themselves, but often nothing is funny about it.
It seems like some contracts are being given to the incompetent. The allegations about many contracts being given to family and friends of the government even when they are unqualified are rampant. Truth? Fiction? What we know for a fact is that it is the people who suffer from the games being played and the gains being made by the incompetent. Deadlines continue to be pushed back on a road like Cemetery Road while people’s lives continue to be at risk and their frustration escalates.
The police released a report in May that there was a decrease in fatal accidents between January and May 14, 2024, compared with the same period last year. According to this report there were 78 fatal accidents and incidents this year and it was 84 during this same period in 2023. The fatalities for that period in 2023 were 95 and in 2024, 91. These figures are alarming. There is nothing to celebrate when it is not even half the year and almost a hundred lives have been lost on the road.
There are countries where fatal accidents are rare. The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Estonia are some of the places with the safest roads. We should learn from them. While the Netherlands has a cycling culture and therefore fewer drivers, Norway has the second lowest speed limit, Sweden has a seatbelt wearing culture and Estonia has low traffic and few alcohol-related road deaths.
We passed the point of crisis eons ago. The spirits of the dead I am sure do work to repair the new broken souls that join them. The sight of their mangled bodies is devastating. Can they rest in peace when often their deaths can be avoided? When will we learn?
