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Jun 01, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Last Monday, I was cruising along the East Bank Public Road into the city. It was during peak hours, and yes, I was cruising. No traffic jams, no slothful movement of traffic.
There were a great many policemen on the roadway directing the flow of traffic. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Guyana Police Force had introduced a new system during peak hours on the busy East Bank Public Road. That roadway consists of four lanes, two lanes for northbound traffic and two lanes for southbound traffic.
From last Monday, in order to ease the traffic jams that usually result during peak hours, the authorities introduced a new system. The four lanes would be divided into three lanes going north in the mornings with the other lane for southbound traffic. In the afternoons, the situation would be reversed with three lanes being utilized for southbound traffic and the other lane being used for northbound traffic
Last Monday was the first day that the system was implemented. It went extremely smoothly, even considering that major parts of the East Bank Public Road are under repairs. The Peeper was in cruise mode during peak hours.
As I passed the Houston Area, I saw the Police Commander of ‘A’ Division, Mr. Clifton Hicken. He was there commanding his officers. As I passed him, I raised my hands in applause to him. I thought he and his ranks were doing a fantastic job and I wanted to applaud his efforts. He did not see me because he was preoccupied with his work. But through this column I wish to express my appreciation to him and the Guyana Police Force for the wonderful work they have been doing all week to ensure that the new system worked.
It did work. The time that it now takes to travel along the East Bank Public Road during peak hours has been reduced significantly, and when I say significantly, I mean significantly. Yet to date, no one has written a line complimenting the Minister of Home Affairs for implementing this new system.
Could it be because it was suggested in this column by the Peeper following the publication of a letter in the newspaper by a citizen who urged the authorities to implement a three-lane system for the flow of northbound traffic in the mornings and a three-lane system for southbound traffic from 5pm to 7 pm?
It is unfortunate that to date not a single letter has appeared in the newspapers praising the Ministry of Home Affairs and the police for the implementation of this system which will ensure that tens of thousands of citizens get home earlier each day and spend less time in their daily commute to and from work.
There are three important lessons that the Cabinet should learn from this experience. The first of these is that it is important to address the problems that directly confront the ordinary citizen. This was one of the huge mistakes made by the Jagdeo administration and was responsible for sugar workers in Berbice having to inform the then President just before the 2011 elections that his effort in trying to reach out to them was a little too late because “boat done gone a falls.”
The people are not too excited about the Amaila Hydroelectric Falls Project, an expanded airport or a specialty hospital. They know that these things will benefit them. But while they may support these projects, their immediate concerns are being neglected and some of the immediate concerns are issues relating to transportation, access to and the timeliness of government services such as the issuance of birth certificates, having to travel to the city to apply and receive their passports, crime and the cost of living. These are the things that irk people and force them to become disgruntled with the government. These are the things that directly impact on the people and it is these problems that they wish to have solved.
Water, electricity, access to transportation and food are no longer major problems in Guyana. There are new problems which have mainly to do with government services. And the faster these problems are fixed the better it will be for the government
The second lesson concerns the need to experiment with solutions. Not every solution tried will work. Those that work, such as the three-lane system, need some tweaking, and may even within six months no longer work because of the constant increase in vehicular traffic. But the government must not be afraid to try things, even if its results in failure.
The third lesson concerns the presence of officials on the ground. The example of Commander Hicken should be emulated by all government ministers. They should be on the ground observing and monitoring what is taking place, so that they can have a first-hand experience.
Not many ministers practice MBWA – management by walking around. Robeson Benn and Robert Persaud are some of the notable exceptions. They are constantly on the ground monitoring and receiving feedback.
Too many government officials are stuck in their offices when they should be out in the fields seeing how best they could address the problems of the people.
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