Do we need the GPF and the City Constabulary regulating traffic?

Dear Editor,

On Regent Street opposite the Bourda Market is the taxi park; this is indicated by road markings done by the Guyana Police Force in bold yellow. However private cars ignore those markings and park in the taxi park.

This situation causes hire cars to sometimes have to wait alongside the private cars until they are ready to move, and traffic ranks of the Guyana Police Force would rectify this situation by instructing the private cars to remove so that the hire cars could park.

On Wednesday 24th January a similar situation occurred, when two ranks from the City Constabulary whose uniforms are short blue pants and white tops approached a Bourda taxi operator who was waiting on a private car to move. They were soon joined by three other ranks in the said uniform, and all the other hire car drivers present asked the constables if they could ask the private car drivers to move. They ignored our pleas and one of the constables boarded the taxi and instructed the driver to drive to the City Constabulary office.

After detaining the taxi driver for over two hours he was placed on eight thousand dollars bail and instructed to appear in court on February 6th. We were informed that these city constables are equivalent to the Guyana Police Force, and if this is so why couldn’t the constables ask the private car driver to remove from the Bourda hire car park? Do we need traffic ranks of the Guyana Police Force and ranks from the City Constabulary to regulate traffic on Regent Street in front of Bourda Market?

I am sure that there are more important issues for the City Constabulary to attend to. Traffic ranks from the Guyana Police Force patrol Regent Street on motor cycles regularly; do they need the help of the City Constabulary?

Yours faithfully,

Frankie Layne