Comments on: Are government-owned buses the solution to the public transportation problem?

By: gap1

gap1 — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:43:37 +0000

Afinam, you pretend but you are just another roaring liberal, willing to give the small man a chance by these subsidies thingese and so on and so forth and others have so misunderstood you, you far left liberal you…..

I admit, I have also not given you, your views, the time it deserves. Promise, from now on, you get your respect when you put yourself out on the line like this, for your nation, Guyanese man! Agree or disagree, I respect that!

Now don’t expect that when we meet again, this Guyanese woman would not be kicking dirt in your face, depending on what you’re doing and saying then, but right now, you’re my favorite person on this blog!

By: AFINAM

AFINAM — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:15:50 +0000

IT is best to increase people’s mobilty by having a partially subsidized transportation system. This means people who live in Buxton can go and find work in Georgetown as the fares would be cheaper.

With enough coverage the number of people who are in work will be increased.

It is unwise to let the transporation system rely on minibuses as they can strike whenever they want to raise fares that would cripple Guyana economy.

…………………………….
People are willing to let the electricity company be subsidized by taxpayers but are not willing to let transportation be subsidize.

I say take monies from the GPL subsidy and create a univrsal transporation system instead.

By: opgy

opgy — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:08:12 +0000

Afinam – dem ting gonna get subsidise by taxpayer money, so nah – no FREE MARKET ECONOMY deh. – Moh taxes fuh dem Guyanese bai fuh pay!!

SSDD

By: A380100

A380100 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:45:57 +0000

Yeah Yeah Yeah, I know Canada is bigger, I lived there in 1970 and then again in 1990. I believe that Canada is a great country and only getting better.

By: La vie est bonne!

La vie est bonne! — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:05:48 +0000

Canada was built on the railways.
From coast to coast to coast. BTW, Canada is larger than the US, althought the population is smaller. :D

Le Canada a été construit sur les chemins de fer!

By: bgsbny

bgsbny — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:58:23 +0000

…… what used to be Sprostons,, then became thru the perceived ” midas touch ”
by burnham GUYNEC,, may still have some crafts men around that can build and even modify the chassis of any given motor driven vehicle ,, for these purposes the govt: technical inst : should play a very significant role in producing qualified
craftsmen/women………

By: AFINAM

AFINAM — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:47:59 +0000

IT is best for those who are poor to have access to cheap transportation then let the minibuses raise their fares to whatever they want according to FREE MARKET ECONOMY.

By: yasuman71

yasuman71 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:25:09 +0000

In Georgetown in the 1950s and 1960s there were the yellow buses of the Motor Transport Ltd. owned by a Mr. Mohamed. Its terminal was located in front the Stabroek Market. The drivers wore uniforms and so did the inspectors who monitored the routes at various points in the city. There were bus stops and regular schedules. The adult fare in the 1960s was ten cents.

By: A380100

A380100 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:32:36 +0000

It would be great, if on top of the buses, that somehow the train system could be reintroduced. Many nations were built on the railway.

By: rdman

rdman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:32:15 +0000

These busses should be brought in and sold to private owners.The government should only collect taxes or a percentage,thats the only way these busses would be properly maintained.

By: gap1

gap1 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:23:15 +0000

The Minister of Transportation of whomever purvue this responsility falls under, needs to sit down identify and map out the various problem routes, then they must draft up some strict guidelines for the owners, say seating accomodation must not be less than, say 50(the point being that the vehicles must transport as many as possible at one given time and cut down on the amount of traffic on the streets), and put other guidelines in place, like driver training, proper maintenance, time-scheduled routes etc etc, then they should invite various investors to ply each route. (Say the Green Bus line goes up the East Bank/Georgtown route, and the Brown line, East Coast Georgetown Route. Yellow Bus line Berbice/GT route, another for Ruimveld, Cambellville, Kitty and specially fitted buses to transport produce and other large amounts of cargo to GT etc etc, )

Sure there would not be as many mini-bus drivers opportunites but many of them, with proper training could drive more carefully behind the wheels of these bigger buses and restore order to the system. The new industry will employ mechanics, other maintenance staff, cleaners, loaders, perhaps conductors and cashiers for point of origin ticketing, and other front office personel so yes it could employ hundreds of Guyanese.

What the govt should now do is try to provide passengers drop off and pick-up points(Stops) and space for a main terminal in GT and at the other various points of origin for these buses, what the govt should not do, is try to do this by themselves. It would be a disaster.

By: Uncle

Uncle — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:43:51 +0000

Mr. Hergash, thank you for penning this letter, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. My only problem is that it was too short…it was a tease. Hearing stories about the way things were in Guyana is always a pleasure. I hope you will continue to write more letters of this sort so the younger generation will get a little information about the way of life of the older generation.

The Govt.’s proposed bus company can do so much for many Guyanese. In your letter you mentioned the building of the buses in Guyana. That doesn’t have to change. Why can’t the parts be imported and put together right in Guyana? Let Guyanese build the buses, drive the buses, and run the system. This company could be a source of employment for many Guyanese, and could prove to be a stepping stone.