Dear Editor,
On Tuesday, January 18th I went to purchase a learner driver’s package at the Brickdam Police Station as publicly advertised by the Guyana Police Force. This notice made no mention of which police stations were authorized to sell the packages nor was there any mention of a specific limit of customers which they were going to deal with per day. This was my second attempt to purchase same since I had made an attempt the previous day at the Turkeyen Police Station where I was told that only Brickdam and Police Headquarters are selling the package and that it was only done between the period of 8:00 am – 10 am.
At 7:30 I arrived at Brickdam Police Station where there was already a long line. With a resigned sigh I joined the line and waited. Approximately 15 minutes later I was informed that the police were only going to deal with the first 50 customers and the others have to return another day. If I arrived at 7:30 and there were already over fifty people, what guarantee is there that if I return tomorrow that I will be within the first 50? Do I now need to arrive at Brickdam Police Station at 6 am? What then happens to my children who I have to prepare for and drop off at school?
With a frustrated sigh I left the police station and wondered if the police force and those who sit in the hierarchy of the force have any idea how much sacrifice is made by members of the public to ensure we adhere to law and order of this country only to be stymied by archaic and unsympathetic regulations within organisations like the Police Force?
I am certain that the Guyana Police Force, after decades of selling learner’s packages, must have known that there would be a rush to buy those packages. What did they put in place to deal with these large crowds – especially in Covid times? Couldn’t the sale of packages be decentralized and be done at every police outpost rather than at just a few locations? Or how about having multiple officers dealing with the public simultaneously? Or could you order online and just turn up to pay and uplift? In this age of technology do we even need to go to a police station to purchase a learner’s package? So many simple solutions seem available to alleviate this abuse of the public’s time yet nothing is being done.
Hon Minister Benn, Commissioner of Police and other senior officers of the Guyana Police Force, I am certain that your organisation can do better – much better! Please treat us with the respect we deserve just as you expect us to respect you. You can start by being respectful to the time, sacrifice and effort we put in to get the requisite official documents to ensure we are always law-abiding citizens.
Yours faithfully,
M. Abraham
