Minibus Madness: Who caused it?

Dear Editor, I saw an editorial in a newspaper recently addressing the atrocious culture of the minibus that we as a people have to face. It is a culture that is despicable, reprehensible and not good for our country in the past, present, or ever in the future. Most significantly, it is a culture that needs addressing urgently. I must admit that there are few minibuses that operate professionally and more so when driven by their owners.

There is much history that is responsible for this madness that prevails which is relevant to this apparent, ’perpetual’ dysfunctional minibus culture. Please note the following:

1.(a) Being the kind of personality that our First Prime Minister, and later President: Mr Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham had. He held no consultations with the citizens of his country, and by what some may consider his dictatorial persona, he decided to close down the railways of the country. Simultaneously, he shut down all private bus services which were known to be operated mostly by persons of one ethnicity of this country with a unique skill set for this business (Indo Guyanese). Shortly afterwards he established the Guyana Transport Service to cater for transportation from the Upper Corentyne to New Amsterdam. Rosignol to Georgetown and other areas of the country. Almost instantly lives were changed. Transportation for agricultural products to the city from various agricultural areas of the country changed overnight, creating a lot of hardships, adjustments and confusion.

1.(b) The trains amazingly were sold to a British gentleman for ‘next to nothing’ who sold it subsequently to an African nation for 300 times the actual price that he paid the Guyana Government. It is known that wherever the British went, that for their convenience and by extension the convenience of the people they establish railway systems.

2. As one from the Upper Corentyne I recall as a youth the bitterness of the agri producers, small and big business people who used the train to ferry goods to the city and back to their townships and villages. Overtime the transport system started to collapse. Forbes Burnham failed to realise that those persons who were managing their private busses were paying attention to their investments. Unlike the system set by the Government through the Guyana Transport Service. Where many were stealing parts, vehicles were being destroyed by negligence, lubricating oils were not being topped up properly (not frequent changes of oil) and engines were disappearing. Persons collecting the fares were stealing the cash! There was no form of electronic accountability for persons entering and leaving! In the case of the private operators, they were handling their money and they knew exactly how to manage their personal affairs.

3. Maybe the Forbes Burnham Government taught that all the monies in the Public Transport System operated by private persons would have enriched the Government. Some people in the country expressed very serious contrasting views and stated that the aim instead was to break a certain set of persons economically. As was the establishment of the infamous External Trade Bureau

(ETB).

4.(a) The loss of the train service created a tremendous negative impact on the economy of the people from the Corentyne, where I hail from. This is why I know so much although I was a child. With this in mind, I am encouraging the Government to immediately consider re-establishing the train service from Upper Corentyne to New Amsterdam and from Upper Corentyne all the way to Georgetown via special rails across the river. And or Rosignol to Georgetown, and like that for other areas of the country. Seeing that this Government will be in power for many, many decades to come. It will be a mighty investment to do one at least per term per five-year term in Government.

(b) I travelled in Europe and saw how train service helped in the development of the Holland economy, Germany, Switzerland, etc. In Germany the service is free of charge to the people to encourage the non-use of petroleum based motor vehicles. Many citizens in Germany and Holland use mostly bicycles and each family has several bicycles to one person: one for comfort, one for speed, one for work. All these countries also have most reliable public bus transport service.

My recommendation as I stated above is for the Government to start looking at rail service. To start looking at luxury bus service in which individuals could be invited to provide such a service and not a bus service that is owned and controlled by the Government. That will create its own logistical issues with maintenance, mechanics, dishonesty in fee collection, thievery of parts etc. But must be a service that is ber of the 80 local entities --

70 NDCs and 10 municipalities or towns. It will be the largest electoral victory of a party in democratic Local

Dear Editor, It appears that the minibus operators in Region Three, especially some of them plying the Parika to Vreed-en-Hoop route, are above the law – particularly, those who do not join the line at Vreed-en-Hoop or Parika.

Government Elections in the history of the country.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram contributes towards devious and worthless behaviour. It is for this reason that hundreds of parents are faced with the burden of contracting buses to transport their children to school. supervised by an aggressive Government entity such as the TLC Inspectorate System in New York. These luxury buses would be air conditioned, have educational shows, movies, yoga, patriotic and civic motivational talks etc. No smoking, no vulgarity, no lewdness, no raising of voices, no indecent music on these buses. The minibus drivers could be trained to become proper bus drivers. But there will always be work in Guyana for those who do not want to get involved in the bus business. The culture has to change through education, uniformity and discipline.

This kind of bus and train environment would be good for the youths travelling to and from school. Persons would be able to relax in comfortable seats with a recliner as they travel long distances. Short term buses will cater for short distance travels. In reference to the points raised about the trains above, in Holland and Germany, there is an electric train service that operates around the city. For a very small fee in Holland and other states persons can access this train for an entire spin around the city. As I have said above, in Germany that train service is free around the city. Such a train and bus transport service that I have suggested here, will give people a chance to save money and to travel in comfort. This service could be provided by the Government of Guyana through the wealth being garnered by the resources owned by the people of Guyana for the people of Guyana.

The safety and comfort of the passengers must be the most important consideration in these transit services.

Sincerely,

Roshan Khan (Snr)

Some of these minibus operators have been playing their music at very high decibels for years now. When some of them are reminded by passengers about the laws that govern their operations, they retaliate and bluntly refuse to turn their music down. Travelling is supposed to be a pleasant experience. This is not the case in these minibuses. Whether it is early in the morning, midday or evening, the operators play music at extremely high decibels. On one occasion, it was observed that although a baby just about 1-2 months old was in the bus, the driver played the music very loudly. This is unconscionable. On another occasion there was a young primary school child in another bus and songs with obscene lyrics were played. Furthermore, on another occasion, I was in a bus and an audio track promoting oral sex was being played. It was almost like looking at pornography.

Some of the buses even have pictures of women who are naked except for a pair of skimpy underwear. Editor, some of these conductors and drivers are even stopping en route to buy alcoholic beverages to consume on the way.

Editor, we cannot continue to allow these operators to have their way with us. Why do young children and the general public have to endure this outrageous obscenity that is forced upon us? Why must we sit idly by and allow them to dump their trash in the young immature minds of our school children. This will only contribute to more chaos in our society.

One renown speakerJim Rohn said, “What a man puts into his mental factory (mind) weaves the fabric of his life.” Furthermore, he posited the question, “Can you imagine dumping a bale of trash into your mental factory and having a rich dynamic positive life?” He concluded, “It’s like trying to make a cake with cement.” Additionally, there’s a computer acronym GIGO which means ‘Garbage In Garbage Out’. The same is true of our minds. If we allow the violence, vulgarity and filthy content to be dumped into our minds by these minibus operators it will result in unwholesome and negative thoughts which ultimately

Editor, I think this indecency has been going on for so long because the Ministry of Home Affairs and the law enforcement officers are sleeping.

Editor, if we choose to neglect these minibus operators we will choke on the dust of our own negligence. Neglecting to act will give these operators a free rein to continue amplifying their indecent behaviours and engaging in an assault on good morals, values and standards.

The Police Commissioner, the Region Three Commander and those officers who they supervise should address this lawlessness meted out by bus conductors and drivers to their passengers.

Editor, those in authority already have the legislation and the Judiciary in place to arrest this issue. Every year one can find a letter in the newspapers condemning this lawlessness in minibuses. Furthermore, this is a crime in broad daylight that needs little effort to catch the criminals.

Editor, what is very disturbing, shocking and sickening is that these very bus operators take their vehicles on a yearly basis to be inspected so that they can receive the fitness certificate. Do these inspection officers not see all the music equipment installed in these buses?

To remedy this problem, I am suggesting that a grace period of one week be given for the operators to remove their music systems from their minibuses. If they fail to remove them after the grace period then their music systems should be seized and burned.

I also would like to suggest that the Minister of Human Services and Social Protection get involved in this fight against lawlessness and indecency.

The Ministry can launch campaigns to sensitise and empower the public to stand against bus operators who operate in this lawless manner.

While I commend this Government for being proactive in infrastructural development, I urge them through the relevant Ministries to exercise the same urgency and seriousness to enforce the law.

Yours respectfully, B Persaud – seriously concerned citizen