Dear Editor,
Earlier last evening I made a Facebook post about the futility of asking those in authority to ‘do something’ about the sale and use of firecrackers that occur mostly around Diwali and New Year’s Eve. Not long after, someone (or something) threw a lit ‘squib’ at my front door. Coincidence? Maybe. But my dog, Fudge, was inches away.
Every year on social platforms and in letter columns we read paragraphs of pleas from citizens concerned about the elderly and babies, animal lovers and owners, veterinarians and animal activists asking those in authority to ‘do something’ about this nuisance to no avail. We do see press releases from the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Police Force promising to ‘do something’ about the importation, sale and use of these illegal items, yet it appears that not enough is being done to stop this illegality.
I suppose it must be a very difficult issue for the authorities to deal with. How will they decide who can set off these dangerous illegal items and who cannot? If it’s okay for the more affluent among us to set off fireworks during special occasions such as this one, then surely it must be okay for the people of South Ruimveldt and Alexander Village too. We are all equal under the law, right? Except that ‘the sale and/or purchase of such explosives is illegal under the Customs Act, amended by Act No 1 of 2005, and the Criminal Offences Act, Cap 8:02.’
There is no lack of awareness of the limitations that law enforcement agencies face as it relates to this issue, drunk driving, motorists wearing no helmets, those blinding headlamps that stare you down at night and speeding trucks. But I am sure more can be done to curb the use of these illegal explosives; after all the good folk at the Police Outpost in South Ruimveldt must hear them going off if I can do so from about three streets away.
Yours faithfully,
Wanita Huburn
