All I ever asked was for my fellow Guyanese to think as modern people

Apr 26, 2019 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I have written literally hundreds of columns on this page over decades, lamenting the lack of modern thinking in Guyana that is extremely shocking to any stranger. I go back over those columns and I feel satisfied that there have been some changes, but this was long after constant banging.
Three examples should suffice. Long before the commonsensical changes were made, this columnist did a Monday editorial in this newspaper, calling for three bridges that connect Vlissengen Road and Irving Street to be made one-way routes. The confusion was so immense that any human could have seen it from a cursory glance. Then I mentioned the ensuing traffic chaos in a column. Do you know it was about ten years after that initial suggestion, the one-way policy was implemented?
The second example was the madness inside the GRA under Khurshid Sattaur. The GRA gave the nation’s vehicle owners three days after the passage in Parliament of the budget to purchase the road vehicle licence. Literally thousands of owners converged on the GRA’s offices and pandemonium and sadism were the consequences.
So I did a few columns suggesting a commonsensical way out of the hell-hole. Why not let people buy the licence at different times of the year. So if you buy yours in September, you are due for renewal in one year’s time from your date of purchase. It took Sattaur about ten years after my suggestion to change the system that now allows you to purchase the document at your convenience.
The final example – any human on Planet Earth will enter a supermarket and purchase just one item. That is life. It is stupid to argue against it. My wife called for me to bring a bottle of coffee. I went to the supermarket and all the counters had long and winding lines. I just had one item. Why do I have to wait until a long line is served just to buy one bottle of coffee? I wrote a column about my experience.
Weeks after, I was with my wife in that very supermarket and the wife of the owner came up to castigate me. I held my ground. A supermarket on busy days should have a fast lane. This coffee incident happened more than ten years ago. To date, no supermarket is modern enough to have a fast lane. I swear on all the people I love, I had to ask a customer to let me through at one of the supermarkets yesterday, because the queues were long and I had just two packets of dog treats.
Surely man, a heavily patronized supermarket must have a lane to cater for people who just have one or two items. How can a nation in the 21st century be so unmodern?
We come now to my experience at the Ministry of Social Protection on Cornhill Street on Wednesday, April 17. This ministry is located in one of the busiest junctions in the entire land of Guyana. You cannot get parking even three blocks away if you are going to the ministry. There is the fire service, the Stabroek Square and the mini-buses.
I couldn’t get parking even four blocks away. So I drove into the Ministry’s parking lot. The guard locked the gate and told me she was not opening up for me when I am leaving because the park is only for employees. She was doing her job. I contacted a senior official. He gave me permission. This is an enormous parking facility that far exceeds the number of vehicles owned by the ministry’s employees.
I counted 30 empty lots. Let’s suppose 15 cars were missing because the employees were out, that still leaves accommodation for 15 additional vehicles. Why then can’t the ministry facilitate visitors?
I called Ms. Colleen Roberts, the Administrator of the ministry. She accepted that the space could be utilized by visitors, but the ministry has had bad experiences. Drivers, she explained, were let in, then walked to the door of the ministry, then went away to do their business outside. They were using the park for their own convenience. She asked how to solve that nastiness.
I told her Republic Bank has the answer. The bank has a park for its customers at the junction of Camp and Regent Streets. When you enter you are given a green card which must carry the bank’s stamp when you return. They lock you in and call the police if you do not have a stamp on the card. Ms. Roberts agreed to institute such a system. Visitors to the ministry can now park there. Thank God!

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