Dear Editor,
The television newscasts of June 30th, 2015 included an item on a protest and picketing exercise outside the Ministry of Public Security, involving several minibus operators who felt they were being unfairly targeted by the police, some with sheaves of “summonses”, with at least one operator receiving over thirty in a single day.
What caught my attention was that not one of the operators who spoke, denied committing the offences, rather, they were asking that the new administration review the fines. Also expressed was the opinion that the television cameras mounted at the intersections, that apparently captured these offending operators, were being used incorrectly.
I am sure I am not the only Guyanese who has witnessed and been appalled by the lawlessness of minibus operators in Georgetown, and I am also sure that many others will stand with me when I call on the new administration, to review the television footage. If the minibus operators are being targeted unfairly, the police officers involved should be dealt with appropriately; however, if the offences were in fact committed, then the errant minibus operators should face justice.
The intent of the fine is to be a deterrent, to reduce the frequency with which the offence is committed and not, as minibus operators seem to consider it, just another operating expense, so if I might be allowed to paraphrase one of the catchphrases of this new administration − If you do the crime, you pay the fine.
It is time to bring law and order back to Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Ernest Ford
