Dear Editor,
The introduction of the two speedboats on the Berbice River after the officials of the Berbice Bridge refused to reduce the tolls for vehicles was a great relief to commuters. As a result, many people jumped at the opportunity and used the service. They saved money and got to move around very fast; in other words, it reduced a great burden. Incidentally the people were shocked to be informed that on Thursday September 1 the boats worked from 6am to 9.30 am, and then again from 2.30pm to 5pm, instead of working the whole day as they used to before. Meanwhile, the tolls at the Berbice Bridge are still the same, so if commuters have to use the bridge, they would have to pay a huge difference. Is this the vision the government has for people? Do they have any consideration for the people? This week school reopens and the number of commuters would increase tremendously, but they are increasing the travel burden instead of decreasing it.
At present, there’s a commercial informing pensioners that their old ID card would not be valid from next year when they collect their pensions, and the deadline is the 3rd.The ad stated that the new ID card would have 9 digits. The commercials were so poorly constructed that many people believed that they had to get registered again and many pensioners visited their respective registration centres, some of whom had travelled far, only to be informed that those who have ID cards with nine digits do not have to register again. Some people have two ID cards and they are using the older ID cards which have seven digits to draw their pension. All they have to do is photocopy the new ID card with the nine digits and take it in to the closest NIS office and they would make the changes. These irresponsible attitudes cause great discomfort to pensioners but again, it seems as if no one cares about what happened.
Finally Editor, given the way officials were carrying on about the oil in Guyana, a lot of people were under the impression that when the rig started to work everything would be alright. In other words, they are acting as if the oil is the saviour of Guyana. I am guessing that the officials of the oil company saw that the Guyanese public were being misled, and so they informed the public about how many people would be employed (a low number) and what are some of the requirements for getting employed. I’m quite sure that the officials were very annoyed, but I’m quite sure their brains are ticking to come up with some concoction again to mislead the public because of their poor performance so far. Guyanese have to be wary of them because since coming into power they cannot fulfil their promises, and instead of making people’s livelihoods better, they are making it harder and making their own lives better, fulfilling their needs. Meanwhile we are waiting for the investors and job creation that they were talking about before the last elections, whilst they are going about mismanaging Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Sahadeo Bates
