Lawlessness at the Demerara Harbour Bridge

Jun 07, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

This letter is being written to highlight the uselessness of the members of the Guyana Police Force during the morning peak hour traffic on the West Side of the Demerara Harbour Bridge.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of inconsiderate drivers who break the laws every morning and the police stand there and just allow it to happen without even considering charging or warning the drivers. They drive on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic in an effort to force their way into the line where citizens who have been there maybe a half hour to an hour before them and is being allowed to do this by the police without consequence.

This lawless behaviour is even encouraged by the two inspectors who are present at the junction of the Demerara Harbour Bridge every day since they allow hundreds of vehicles to drive straight to the bridge without joining any queue and cause much more inconvenience to other citizens. Do we really need to have two inspectors doing absolutely nothing everyday at the bridge?

There are a few times where the junior officers will actually do their jobs and try to maintain order by stopping these lawless drivers however is embarrassed by these inspectors since they will allow the lawless drivers to join this ‘Priority Lane’.

What is a Priority Lane? Why is there a Priority Lane? Who is allowed to join this Priority Lane? Are hundreds of drivers ‘Priority’? Why is their time more important than the other citizens? Do the police take part in some sort of corruption in order to allow these drivers to get away with the lawless behaviour? These are questions which need to be answered by the officers.

Based on the general every morning situation citizens face. I think it would be much better to have much more traffic cones than to have these officers present since it would be of much more use to stop errant drivers.

We all accept that this traffic is caused by inconsiderate and brainless drivers but we have a police force who should be there to maintain law and order however the lack of consequences for these drivers’ actions and encouragement of lawlessness by the higher positions within the police force will only see this problem getting worst. If the police or any other individual believe this is not the case, I would suggest that anyone just check the Pixels camera for the West Side of the bridge from 6:30 to 7:00 and see what is being allowed. On a positive note, I would like to commend the Harbour Bridge’s management on trying to curb the traffic problems and it has worked but the Guyana Police Force makes a lot of their effort in vain.

Sincerely
Fed up Drivers