Dear Editor,
I am an Antigua and Barbuda citizen residing in Antigua. I frequently visit Guyana, since my family reside there. My last visit was last weekend (26th-28th January).
On leaving Guyana on Sunday last, there were many passengers in the departure areas of the airport as ZOOM, LIAT, and Caribbean Star Airlines were all departing around the same time.
Unfortunately, the air-conditioning system in the Immigration departure area was switched off or not working so it was very hot. To make matters worse, there were only two immigration officers on duty at the desks and there was confusion when ZOOM announced that the gate would be closed in five minutes. All the ZOOM passengers moved to the front of the two queues creating a bottle-neck. Eventually, after a long time some form of order to the lines was restored.
On clearing Immigration and passing through the security scanner, the security police frisking passengers instructed me to ‘make eye contact with him’ in a rough tone of voice. I advised him that if he was a woman, then I would.
To many Guyanese enduring the hardship of life in Guyana, these are everyday occurrences, but what would our foreign visitors think.
First of all, the airport facilities are not up to standard and secondly, persons directly communicating with passengers should be polite while carrying out their duties. The old bullying police ways must be something of the past if we are to move forward. The Cricket World Cup is upon us.
Our leaders need to remember that the matches will not be played in the stadiums but in the country. No matter how beautiful and prepared the Stadiums are, if the country is not ready, then there will certainly be a negative result. That includes facilities, courtesy and crime.
Yours faithfully,
(name and address
provided)
