Guyana Observer News

By Freddie Kissoon

When I read a few years ago that President Jagdeo said that parking outside Celina Atlantic Resort was dangerous because drivers would be reversing into the oncoming highway traffic, I did a column in response. I looked at two issues. One was that this was no intractable problem. Force the owner(s) to employ a traffic warden.

Like many private schools, the warden would indicate to the driver when to reverse. Secondly, if President Jagdeo’s observation had merit, then the Government would have to remove Sparendaam Police station and the attached Magistrate’s Court

At Celina, you still have space to drive onto the parapet. At Sparendaam, you have to park on the highway. It is a much more dangerous situation that outside of Celina. Was this a case of bullyism?

Here is another such situation that calls into question the thinking of the people who run this country. The government put the VAT Head Office on Albert Street between Charlotte Street and South Road. As soon as it did that, it unreasonably declared Albert Street a one-way going only north between South Road and Regent Street. In most cases because of the volume of traffic, a street is made into a one-way from morning until 6 in the afternoon.

Why make the street that the VAT Head Office is located a one-way for twenty-four hours? No one is in the VAT building after 17.00 hours and there is no heavy vehicular traffic after that hour? But let us for argument sake say that we agree with the one-way order.

Here are some similar situations that appear ludicrously illogical. And no one in authority gets the point so some common sense can prevail. The Licence Revenue office is a very important place. Traffic is huge at that junction of Smyth and Princes Streets. To add to the misery, the GRA has transferred a section of its office there.

Every new vehicle has to go to the License Revenue to have its engine number ascertained. Every second car that is sold by one citizen to another has to go there too to ensure that the engine number is still the original one. When they begin to sell road license, you cannot pass that junction.
Many, many moons ago, I did an article in which I used the example of the location of the Licence Office as a large indicator of how primitive this country is. Our land space combines the totality of the Caricom territories yet since the fifties that office has remained on Smyth Street.

The Government of Guyana has land that is endless. Why then continue to have the Licence Office there given the fact that compared to the sixties, the number of vehicles (not cars only) have gone up by thousands of percent.

I challenge the Minister of Transport and the Commissioner of Police to tell me that on Albert Street where the VAT office is there is a larger volume of traffic than outside the Licence Revenue Office. There is absolutely no comparison.

The confluence of Smyth and Princes Streets is a living traffic nightmare.  Why then does Smyth Street remain a two-way flow?
The Albert Street order becomes weirder or more facetious when you think of where the GRA Head Office is located. It is on Lamaha Street. As many drivers go there as they do to the VAT branch of GRA on Albert Street. Why not make Lamaha Street, then, a one-way. There are many more examples one can think of that questions the wisdom of those who have legal authority to make policies. Easily coming to mind is the GPL on Middle Street. That is as busy as the VAT location. Why not make that road a one-way.

Why put GWI offices on Vlissengen Road inside the Shelter Belt Compound? Do you know how many drivers visit GWI daily? There is nowhere to park.

You can’t help thinking as you look around this country that if it is not being run by random thoughts. Someone got up a morning and said, “Hey, too many cars outside the VAT annexe, change Albert Street into a one-way.” It sounds like oligarchic rule in a banana republic but isn’t that what we have become. One morning, Georgetown woke up to find an edict that says drivers can no longer park on Carmichael Street between New Market and Lamaha Streets (not the eastern half). The reason up to now cannot stand up to logic. In fact, there was no explanation offered until the Bank of Nova Scotia complained that it was badly inconvenienced.

The press then told us, the ban was effected by Office of the President.