Dear Editor,

The need for the reintroduction of state owned public transportation is greater now than ever before. In the late 1980s public transportation was entrusted solely in the hands of private individuals in the hope that this would have brought an ease in the hardship faced by the travelling public. Many persons were allowed to bring into the country minibuses duty free. Twenty years later the transportation situation is worse than it was twenty years ago. Just pass by the west coast and west bank bus parks in the afternoon and you’ll get a clear picture of how bad the situation is today. The people of the East Coast of Demerara can paint a similar picture.

Private mini bus operators treat commuters in a very shabby way especially when they can’t get things their way. For example people who live in some of the new housing schemes like Perfect Harmony are at the mercy of mini bus operators. If they are not allowed to overload they don’t work and many working people are left stranded and school children are late for school. The population in these new housing schemes is growing daily and there are not enough buses to serve the communities. When

minibus operators withdraw their service the people are the ones who suffer most. Thousands of man hours are lost when people can’t get to work on time.

I would like to suggest that the government urgently form a state owned bus company and seek at least in the initial stage one hundred 32 seater buses and deploy them on the West or East Coast of Demerara and West and East Bank of Demerara.

The people of Guyana are crying out for help, is anyone listening.

Yours faithfully,

Clive Fredericks