Dear Editor,
In the weirdness of Guyana 2025, we have two fascinating views on the traffic situation in Guyana. President Ali is reported by DPI on 31 Dec, 2024 as saying that the Government’s successful interventions have resulted in a decrease in serious and fatal road accidents, with a corresponding increase of tickets and matters brought before the traffic court. Another view surprisingly came from a former UK diplomat Greg Quinn who still drives in Guyana, and who said “And when did Guyanese drivers become so uncivil? Yes there have always been frustrations but in recent months I have seen a level of uncivility and frustration on the road which far outweighs anything I have seen before. This anger simply makes the situation worse. An angry driver is a dangerous driver.”
President Ali did not address this increasing anger and frustration, probably because he has sirens to push aside the rage. Letter writer, Kwasi Fraser, has raised the issue of the inequity in Guyana, and the fact that many people are carrying more rage and frustration as more oil flows. Oil it seems is not lubricating goodwill and civility. Ironically, the solution to all this expression of rage and anger, not only on the roadways, but elsewhere seems to be more ‘law enforcement’ and punishment. Apparently, we can be driven into some kind of peace and calm and civility by more fines and stricter laws. And as election season comes up, more rage, more frustration, and more hostility will loom.
The thing with statistics, though it might be true that there might be lesser ‘deaths’ and murders, but violence can slowly kill, slowly destroy, and deaths as a result will not be recorded the same way as say murder. So as the former diplomat from the UK has noted, this increasing frustration on the roads, is probably connected to the increasing deaths and experiences of heart disease in younger folks as reported by GPHC cardiologists, and to the ‘drastic increase’ also reported by GPHC in the A&E . How then are we managing our rage and frustration then in this oil economy? And do we understand the real progress in traffic is not only the reduction of serious and fatal accidents, but also a reduction in the need for court cases and fines?
Sincerely,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
