Commentator Christopher Ram has chided two government ministers over the state of the East Bank road at Friendship and the dislocation it is continuing to cause to commuters.
In an open letter to Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill and Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond, Ram said that he returned to Guyana on Wednesday evening after a journey involving nearly twenty hours.
He said that everything went well until he reached Friendship on the East Bank.
“What followed was among the most chaotic and mismanaged public sector activities imaginable. For the better part of an hour there was little movement of traffic in either direction. Heavy and construction vehicles competed for road space, government vehicles with sirens forced their way through, and there appeared to be no system for keeping traffic moving”, Ram said.
He pointed out that Edghill is responsible for road construction and for managing its consequences.
“Where are the signs, controlled diversions and arrangements for construction vehicles entering and leaving the roadway? Where are the personnel to ensure that road works do not themselves bring traffic to a standstill? Have these responsibilities been farmed out along with the construction contracts?”, he asked.
Commuters have long complained about the state of the East Bank road which has seen work done in segments over long periods.
Addressing Walrond, Ram asserted that the Police cannot be spectators.
“The road traffic legislation expressly empowers the Police to intervene where abnormal traffic requires directions to relieve congestion and prevent obstruction. Traffic management and enforcement are plainly police responsibilities”, he asserted.
He said that the two Ministries cannot pass responsibility between themselves. Public Works must manage the consequences of construction and the Police must manage and enforce the movement of traffic, he contended.
“Even if you are insensitive to the hardship and frustration inflicted on the public, you cannot be unaware of the serious economic cost and reputational damage. Thousands of persons losing thirty minutes or an hour each day means thousands of productive hours lost. Fuel is wasted, employees arrive late, deliveries are delayed and costs ripple through the economy.
“And consider the message to visitors. They arrive in a country celebrated for extraordinary economic growth and massive infrastructure spending, only to leave the airport and encounter stationary traffic, construction vehicles, inadequate signage and unmitigated disorder”, Ram said.
He added that what makes the situation particularly unacceptable is that it is neither new nor temporary.
“It has persisted for years. After all that time, the continuing chaos can no longer be explained away as inconvenience caused by development. It represents a sustained failure of planning, coordination and ministerial oversight. Ministers, on traffic management your performance has moved beyond poor administration to something approaching dereliction of responsibility”, Ram declared.
He challenged the ministers to tell the public who is responsible, what arrangements exist between Public Works, its contractors and the Police and, more importantly, what they are going to do about it.
Discussion