Georgetown is in clear and present danger of being choked by the sheer number of vehicles which jostle for space on its narrow and congested roads. The data are not available, but it would be very interesting to learn the ratio of vehicles to people in the city and to compare this per capita with other major cities in the region.
While the 2016 budget measures in support of ‘greening’ the economy and protecting the environment list several proposals possibly aimed at addressing the chaos, none of them are radical, none take effect immediately and it is obvious that things will get worse, far worse, before they get better.
Reading this year’s budget last Friday, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan announced the removal of excise tax on motor vehicles under four years old under 1500cc; the reduction of excise tax from 50% to 10% on motor vehicles under four years old, between 1500cc and under 2000cc; the restriction of the importation of used and/or re-conditioned vehicles to under 8 years old from the date of manufacture to the date of importation, and the notice of intent to ban the importation of used tyres and to reduce taxes on new tyres to encourage their use.
What was sadly lacking was any proposal or projection for a regularized public transportation system. In every metropolis in the world, there is regularized public transportation and it serves more than the single purpose of getting people from here to there. It eases congestion; buses and/or trains can move far more commuters than cars can, even when car-pooling, which does not exist here, is taken into consideration. It protects the environment; fewer vehicles translate to less emissions and in some of the developed countries, cities have begun to utilize buses that run on clean fuels like biodiesel, natural gas, and electricity. The other benefits of a public transportation system that works with a schedule and has trained, careful and polite operators have been advanced in these columns ad nauseam.
While ensuring the importation of newer vehicles and prohibiting used tyres have a part to play in reducing harm to the environment, they can hardly be described as ‘greening’. They are not by any means groundbreaking, and while they will take the country a few steps ahead of where it is at present, it will still be very far from where it should be given its much vaunted, proposed environmental profile. Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy and its agreement with Norway represent an irony when placed against it chockful-of-vehicles and hitherto filthy capital.
The environment notwithstanding, getting around Georgetown has quickly become one of the most frustrating things to do and since it is a condition that is here to stay city residents and visitors will have to get used to it, but there are several things that can be done to make what is a bitter pill a tad more palatable.
Better traffic control can have a huge impact on the chaos, congestion and confusion – the three Cs that have become part of our daily fare. It seems for the most part that motorists have thrown out the five Cs—caution, care, consideration, courtesy and commonsense—particularly the last mentioned one. And therefore there must be an authoritative way of ensuring and enforcing order.
The Guyana Police Force Traffic Department must have noticed that for all of its enforcement of parallel parking and no-parking zones, traversing the city remains a virtual nightmare and the rate of accidents and incidents are higher than ever. The sight of members of the City Constabulary being trained in directing traffic is a welcome one that hopefully will mean more order in the downtown areas.
However, there is still a ton of work to be done with regard to reducing the dangers of the morning and afternoon commute. The numbers of vehicles are continuing to grow and so is the ignorant and overly aggressive driving by the bullies whose main aim apparently is to make as much money as possible while breaking as many traffic laws as they can with scant regard for other road users. These and other problems are not hiding; the authorities know what they are and where they exist and are most prevalent. The question is what are they planning to do to solve them?
