Contributing factors overlooked when discussing our road crisis

Apr 20, 2025 Letters

---

Dear Editor,

Guyanese have been struggling with the way our roads are being used by owners and drivers of various vehicles for quite some time. Over the past year or so, there has been an increase use of the independent press by citizens to articulate their concern, their horror and to suggest what should be done to minimize the carnage that is taking place on our streets.

As far as suggestions on what can be done to make our roads safe, the suggestions have centred on what the police need to do. In other words, we seem to see police action or inaction as the problem and/or solution to the crisis on our streets.

This is an interesting mindset. Indeed, all over the world, many countries have given the impression that they place a significant amount of blame on the legislative branch of government. For example, governments encouraged carpooling, alternating days on which vehicles with specific number plates are allowed to use the roads, creating space for bicycle use in cities while banning the use of motor vehicles in specific areas of cities, etc. For some strange reason, none of these approaches have been pursued by governments in Guyana with any vigour.

Especially in developing countries today, intellectuals are directing attention to government infrastructure programs as it relates specifically to road construction and individual behaviour of those with power, authority and wealth. I want to draw attention to these two areas and their contribution to the chaos on our streets. To do so, I will rely heavily on that outstanding African intellectual and writer Chinua Achebe, who, in his book “The Trouble with Nigeria”, looked at how the behaviour of powerful citizens in Nigeria contributes to the chaos on the streets of Nigeria. But first, let us look at road construction in Guyana.

According to the Kaieteur News on 24th January 2025, Minister Edghill made the observation that “speed bumps are delaying ambulance access during critical times.” Minister Edghill, while conceding that speed bumps play a role in reducing speeding, nevertheless have “unintended consequences for ambulances and emergency services”. He is also quoted as saying, “Speed bumps are not the answer.” There are two comments I wish to make on the observations made by the Honourable Minister.

First, a philosophical comment. Any first-year student of philosophy knows that the solution to a problem is usually the creation of a new problem. Thus, the fact that ingress and egress are inhibited by the presence of speed bumps is no insightful observation. What is needed is a comprehensive rethink on how we construct our roads. Here in the USA, most main roads are constructed with an emergency lane provided, to be used mainly by the police, fire service and ambulances. What prevents Guyana from doing similar?

Guyana is prevented from doing similar because historically our main roads are built on narrow stretches of land that would not accommodate an addition of emergency lanes. Also, as we undertake the construction of new roads, our mindset and the lack of foresight do not allow us to seek to correct this historical neglect.  Thus, here in the 21st century, we continue to build public roads that cater for normal two-way traffic with the absence of emergency lanes, even though the inadequacies of such roads are hard to miss.

But I suspect that Minister Edghill was speaking mostly about community roads when he stated his concern about emergency vehicles being impeded in efforts to reach patients. To understand this problem, we need to examine this nation’s history. Many of our villages were established with the main purpose of serving the sugar industry.

Bookers was determined to have its workforce as close as possible to its factories and fields. Any casual examination of sugar estates on West Bank Demerara, East Bank Demerara and much of the Corentyne will reflect that villages, housing areas are very close to cane fields and or factories, with public roads and canals used for moving sugar cane to factories separating them. Later, with independence, pathways created by villagers were paved, thus accounting for their narrowness and the need for speed bumps to protect mainly children playing football or cricket in yards who might, without warning, in pursuit of a ball, dash out of a yard.

The solution to this problem of ingress and egress being hampered by the presence of needed speed bumps in inner village streets is a bit more difficult to solve. Indeed, I think little can be done to correct this, given the realities of existing villages. What is worrying is that even now, with new housing areas, we see the same behaviour of building narrow roads with little space between the road and homes.

My second observation of what encourages the type of indiscipline we see on our roads is directly related to the behaviour of persons wielding power and their willingness to flout the law.

Which Guyanese has not, with open amusement or painful laughter, watched as outriders with screaming sirens, while traffic ranks wave frantically, ordering vehicles trapped in a long, slow-moving line to make way for some high-ranking politician to pass? At such times, all traffic laws are allowed to be broken as drivers are encouraged, nay ordered, to manoeuvre their vehicles off roads to create passage for our earthly masters to whiz by. Indeed, on some occasions, citizens believe that these politicians are misusing sirens simply to get ahead of fellow citizens who, like them, are anxious to get home to their families after a hard day’s work.

So, why are we surprised when young drivers exhibit impatience and display unwillingness to wait in line when caught in slow-moving traffic, and would manoeuvre their vehicle onto parapets so as to get ahead of others, while endangering the lives of pedestrians? After all, for these young drivers, our leaders have set the example.

Meanwhile, those of us cognizant of the traffic situation, especially on the east bank public road, leave home earlier than we ideally want to and patiently take our place in the long, slow-moving line. Now (as Achebe states) we are left to feel foolish as these indisciplined young drivers, nay hooligans, command the roadways, come from behind weaving their way onto parapet and road to get to the front.

It is important to note another observation of Achebe, that is that while endangering pedestrians, these drivers (especially mini bus drivers) have no sense of putting themselves at risk of injuries or death. How could they have such fears? After all, they feel secure since they are behind the wheels of vehicles that proclaim boldly in writing on their sides biblical sayings – “God’s gift,” “Covered in the blood,” “God’s chosen”, etc.

Editor, one remembers Freddie Kissoon for quite a while fuming about a senior PPP government official whose son/relative struck down his nephew and drove away. Freddie expressed anger for some time after this incident and constantly reminded readers. One got the impression that justice was never achieved by his nephew. Then we had a PPP minister who was involved in an accident on Homestretch Avenue, who, when asked by the police at the scene to take a breathalyzer test, refused to do so and simply drove away.

Now, we hear of a man daring the police to do what they want as he removed his impounded vehicle from the police compound. (Kaieteur News 21st March, 2025) saying the police “can do what they want to do.” Isn’t that exactly what the minister was saying by his action of driving away?

But this tendency of making it clear that obedience to the law is only for the powerless is not limited to the ‘big ones’ in the PPP. Nor is the behaviour limited to the roads specifically. One remembers a female minister in the coalition government also showing contempt for laws governing vehicles. This minister was told by a security guard not to park in an area designated for some other purpose. Allegedly, she told her driver to ignore the instruction and had him park in the prohibited area.

With all this, we still behave as though it’s alright, as if being a senior government functionary bestows on leaders the right to flout the law. We still fail to consider how their behaviour contributes to the indiscipline and chaos on our roads.  We continue to merely concentrate on seeking solutions to our road crisis by increasing police presence on our streets, building more roads, appealing to drivers to desist from drinking and driving, debating whether or not to close bars at 12pm, etc.

Yours,

Claudius Prince

---

---