Act now to reduce frequent and fatal road accidents

other members of the PSC was: a.Unlawful b. Ultra vires article 225 oftheconstitution c.Arbitrary d.Unreasonable e.Unfair f. In violation of the suspended Chairman and other Commissioner’s constitutional rights to the protectionofthelawanddue processofthelaw g. Null, void and of no legaleffect.

More than one week has p a s s e d s i n c e t h a t unprecedentedruling,which in my view has significant implications for the rule of law and jurisprudence in Guyana, and indeed, the e n t i r e B r i t i s h Commonwealth. Given that ruling, I would have expected a public outcry from many organisations, such as the Guyana Bar Association, The Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, Guyana Human RightsAssociation(GHRA), Article13,TheGuardiansof Democracy, and many other organisations, not forgetting the many social media commentators and other individuals, and of course, the many political parties, some of whom were not so long ago, very vocal on issuesrelatingtodemocracy, good governance and the ruleoflawinGuyana.

I remember very well in October of 2016, Mr. Anil Nandalall, the nowAttorney General, who was at that timeaprominentmemberof the opposition PPPC, accusing President David Granger of “constitutional heresy”.

This was in response to the President’s move to suspendtheChairmanofthe Public Service Commission, Mr Carville Duncan, who was charged and placed beforethecourtoveralleged theft.

Mr Nandalall said then, “ThePresidenthasflagrantly violated the letter, spirit and intent of some of the most sacrosanct constitutional provisions and indeed his actions strike at the very heart of our constitutional democracy Presidents (or Prime Ministers, as the case may be) have been impeached for far less in democratic countries In Guyana this is barely front pagenews.Andlifegoeson. Not a murmur from the Associations representing lawyersinthecountry”.

The former legal advisor to the governments of Presidents Bharrat Jagdeo andDonaldRamotarpointed to Article 94 of the Constitution of Guyana which provides that “The President may be removed from office if he or she commitsanyviolationofthis Constitution or any other gross misconduct”. Justice Gino Persaud ruled that the President violated the ConstitutionofGuyana.

Itisamazingthatthevery acts, and more, that were alleged to have been committedbyPresident

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DEAREDITOR, Attentionmustbedrawn to the frequent and fatal accidents on our roadways overthelastyear

It is evident that many roadusersfailtoexercisethe five basic principles when usingtheroads.

As a learner driver, you are taught when driving the following five Cs must be exercised: caution, consideration,care,common sense, and courtesy These accidents are gruesome and painful for families to cope with,butunfortunatelythere are no systems in place to help relatives with the trauma as they live through deathanniversaryafterdeath anniversary or years of caring for seriously injured victims.

In many instances too, there is no justice which furtheraddstothetrauma.

Editor, I publicly applaudtheworkbeingdone by Ms. Romona Doorgen, andherteamatGuyanaRoad Safety Council, where training is done to sensitize and or educate motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians, on defensivedrivingandhowto usetheroadways.

Indeed, accidents can be avoidedifroaduserswereto exercise the 5 Cs, drive withinthespeedlimitandbe held accountable by the traffic department. As a driver, I have witnessed the callous and reckless behaviour of a few road users.

Additionally, the truckingbusinesshasgrown significantlyinrecentyears.

Truck drivers are now involved in most of the recent accidents Some drivers appear to be inexperienced and I have wonderedhowmanyqualify to be truck drivers and or passedtheirdrivingtests.

Daily, the operators of thesehugetruckscanbeseen utilizing the roadways indiscriminately Is there a daily quota of trips required of these drivers? Why the hurry?

I rather suspect Editor, that many of these trucks transportmaterialswayover theregulatedweightandare compromising the integrity of the roads, many of which were not built to accommodate them. We need to urgently revisit the traffic laws with the view to a m e n d i n g t h e m appropriately with punitive finesandpenalties.

The Coalition had commenced work on a network of roads and highways to link and reduce thetrafficbuildupalongthe East Coast/East Bank Corridor

ThePPPCwoulddowell torolloutthosewellthought out plans instead of the arbitraryworkbeingdone.

There are a number of areas downtown which also need to be revisited to ease thetrafficcongestionduring businesshours.

The traffic department and other relevant authorities need to be mindful that the area bound by Vlissengen Road, Brickdam, Water St and Lamaha Streets is occupied by schools, banks, public entities, markets, hospitals, restaurants, shopping areas and other commercial entities which attract heavy trafficdaily

The traffic flow and parking in this area, if properly redesigned, can reduce congestion and unnecessary timeconsumingbottlenecks. We cannot continue building multi storey buildingswithouttakingthis intoconsideration.

Editor, I conclude by callingonthePPP/Cregime to ACT NOW!!! All lives matter!!!

Sincerely,

AnnetteFerguson MemberofParliament