It is with a sense of grief that I have read in another publication of the death of yet another child on the roads of Guyana, a 9-year-old from Buxton last Friday. What in the name of God is the Police Department doing to stop the speeding on the roads. If the reports are correct the child was thrown way into the air from the impact. The only way that is possible is tremendous speed. Again if the reports are correct the child stepped from behind a parked mini bus, but even so if the other mini bus was not speeding the child might have still be hit if at all, but death might not have resulted.

The action being taken now by the Police Department to re-vamp the traffic laws are too long overdue and in fairness to the new commissioner, he seems to have started on the right foot, but in the meantime another valuable asset has been lost, the life of a child.

This traffic situation in Guyana especially the speeding aspect of it should have been taken care of by the previous commissioner when someone suggested installing the governor on the mini buses and hire cars which are the principal offenders, but he did not favour that but still did not come up with a workable solution to the problem, as I challenged him to, in one of my many letters on this plague in Guyana (pardon my terminology of the problem), but it is. It is my fervent hope that the current efforts to correct this situation now afoot will find a meaningful and enforceable solution to this problem.

I have a proposal which I know might draw a hue and cry from some circles but I think it will work. The main reason for all the speed on the road especially by most of the mini bus drivers is because of the competition. I think if the amount of mini buses on the routes is reduced to a workable amount so as not to have passengers waiting too long for a bus, it will take away the race that exists now to beat the other guy to reach a given point to get more passengers, just for a few dollars more.

I do not know the system used to register or certify these buses, but a way to start is to legislate laws to refuse registration for them after a certain amount of traffic violations and failure to maintain their vehicles properly to safely transport passengers, and also for loud music playing. Do not register any new vehicles until a vacancy arises on a given route. I know this may sound far-fetched, but this may even cause some of the drivers to rethink their stupidity to speed and therefore the roads may become a lot safer.

But this also hinges on strict enforcement by the traffic department to see that the traffic laws are obeyed.

SAVE THE CHILDREN, PLEASE, AND ADULTS TOO, AND PROSECUTE THE VIOLATORS TO THE FULLEST.
Nat Griffith
Bklyn, NY