Across political administrations in Guyana there have been persistent concerns about the physical conditions that obtain at our municipal markets which, to say the least, have from ‘way back’, been downright deplorable. Here one feels that had such conditions obtained in other countries where either the state or the municipal authorities were possessed of a greater mindfulness of public health considerations, this would be unlikely to be the case.
Truth be told, we in Guyana have long been ‘schooled’ to grin and bear it, the public indifference seemingly invested in the various municipalities brought with it a measure of comfort that has resulted in a condition of protracted indifference on its part. At the level of both the state and the municipality, our various municipal markets are, simultaneously, an eyesore and a health hazard.
But that is not all. Over time, our urban markets have become locales for various forms of illegal behaviour. They have become favoured haunts for drug addicts, layabouts, urchins and thieves. It is the recent protestations by night shoppers and vendors over the prevalence of robberies which, one feels, has afforded Bourda Market much of the attention that it has gotten recently.
That may not have been all that took President Irfaan Ali on his recent early morning walkabout in the Bourda Market area though it is likely that the issue would have been on his mind.
Visitors to the market, who would either have been victims of the bandits who regard the market area as a potentially lucrative ‘snatch and run hunting grounds’, would probably have seen the President’s visit there as a precursor to some measure(s) that would provide a greater degree of night time protection. Here, it has to be said, that if one considers carefully the logistical procedures associated with shopping fruit and vegetables on open roads at what is commonly termed ‘all hours of the night’, it is not difficult to see why Bourda Market has been singled out by robbers as a potential ‘happy hunting ground.’
Contextually, the need for a substantial police presence on foot patrol at night is what one might call a ‘no brainer’ so that it begs the question as to why our night-time shoppers, almost certainly women picking up fruit and vegetables, could not have been favoured with a fairly generous ‘dose’ of nocturnal security provided for by uniformed and plain-clothed policemen ‘watching over’ them, so the speak.
Ironically, one gets the impression that the strategic arm of the Guyana Police Force [GPF] has concluded that rather than provide a service that ‘looks over’ our late night shoppers, the vast majority of whom, one feels, are working-class breadwinners, it is preferable to station motor-cycle and car patrols outside night clubs, and the various other assorted places of entertainment where, truth be told, the primary preoccupation is not likely to be in conformity with the conventional notion of service and protection.
But that is not all. Less than forty-eight hours after the President had completed his foreday morning ‘walk through,’ an image appeared in the media of a mobile outpost in the immediate vicinity of the Bourda Market ‘attended’ by a female police officer, a pair of motor-cycled cops, an armed policeman and a second policewoman wearing what appeared to be the rank of Corporal.
Whether this near immediate response to the President’s visit is indicative of the GPF having ‘seen the light’ or whether it is what one might call a temporary ‘show window’ is not a matter on which the Stabroek Business will speculate. Suffice it to say, that the message here (or at least one of the messages) is that our crime deterrence profile is likely to be boosted significantly if our strategic perspective on policing is enhanced.
