Dear Editor,
There is a sad and terrifying breakdown of law and order in Guyana’s oldest Municipality and the birthplace of some of the nation’s finest and brightest…good old New Amsterdam. Since its establishment the town has been known for its serenity and peacefulness. That description is now all history. This degradation is sad because the township is the cradle of Guyana’s birth with a rich history and heritage. Terrifying because people’s lives are endangered on a daily basis by unruly and reckless road users. Ironically the town hosts the GPF’s “B” Divisional Headquarters with an Assistant Commissioner in command.
There is almost a total absence of traffic patrols on the town’s main thoroughfares allowing road users to break every conceivable traffic rule. Even foreign-speaking migrants have joined the band of law breakers having seen locals doing same. Everyday pedal, motor and e-bike riders can be seen traversing through one-way streets the wrong way including the congested Pitt Street shopping area. Even the one-way sign between St Ann Street and Pitt Street along the busy Strand thoroughfare is violated by speeding riders a mere two blocks from the Police’s Divisional headquarters. Parking is unregulated so drivers park anywhere.
At the busy junction of Main and Pitt streets a coconut vendor plies his trade in full view of the public on a donkey-drawn cart posing an obvious hindrance and danger to traffic. In all this craziness pedestrians including the elderly are left to jostle hazardously between the traffic to move from one place to another. On one occasion a business owner was threatened with a cutlass by a driver who was blocking his business entrance.
Heading the list of law-breakers is a gang of noisy, speeding motorcyclists who seem oblivious to any traffic laws or enforcers. Apart from the madness almost 90 percent of motorcyclists ride their bikes without safety helmets as mandated by law. I guess the police are waiting for the inevitable accident and/or death[s] to react.
Then there is the perennial noise nuisance. In the heart of the town a stone’s throw from the police station there is a Spanish-run restaurant that reportedly opens and plays loud music way into the early morning hours beyond their licensing authorization. Almost every week-end loud music is played in the Mt Sinai squatting area, commonly referred to as Angoy’s Avenue from early afternoons until four or five the next morning. This noise can be heard for almost 800 meters away including at the police headquarters, Apart from this a number of police ranks live in the area yet this lawlessness has continued for more that one-year now. Some say the lawlessness is practiced by the “connected” and/or “untouchables”. Some say the police are pre-occupied with “other pressing matters of state”. Yet without law enforcement, lawlessness will prevail and chaos will soon follow in its footsteps. Maybe it is part of the strategic objective.
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Da Costa
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