Presenter tells DFC...
Minibus culture a 'scourge in society'
Guyana Chronicle
September 23, 2003
Executive Secretary of the Impact Based Community Policing Group, Mr. Winston Saunders, who met with members of the Disciplined Services Commission (DFC) yesterday, described the culture of minibuses "as a scourge in society", which must be dealt with.
Representing his submissions, which focused mainly on the Guyana Police Force, Mr. Saunders pointed out that the general public must get involved removing this stigma, and even alluded to the removal of the 15-seater buses and replacing them with twenty-six seater buses.
He stated that these bigger buses have been operating the Linden route for some two years now and as a result there is a significant reduction of fatal accidents involving buses. Only one bus was involved in a minor accident, he said.
When asked by commissioner, attorney-at-law, Anil Nandlall, if he will support a policy that imposes a higher duty rate on these buses, he conceded that sacrifices would have to be made to eradicate the problem.
Mr. Saunders also informed the commissioners that the buses are fragile and highlighted the reckless, discourteous and undisciplined attitudes of drivers and conductors.
While relating some personal experiences to the commissioners he said that the buses create a culture of hustle, "zing in and out of traffic", and because they are fragile the slightest "touch" results in people being injured or killed.
He also spoke of the loud volume of noise from the unlawfully amplified sets installed in the buses and expressed the opinion that all these buses should be gotten rid of and replaced by the bigger 26 seaters.
The culture of these buses places added burden on the members of the Guyana Police Force, and there must be a code of conduct for the drivers and conductors, he stressed.
Mr. Saunders, who himself was put out of buses or verbally abused by operators and even passengers when he requested the volume be turned down, is advising persons suffering the same fate to record the number of the bus and the date and time and make a report to the Police Station, so that the offender(s) can be prosecuted.
But Mr. Nandlall pointed out that getting those persons to court to give evidence is quite a challenge, a view which Mr. Saunders felt will change once persons make reports at the Police Station. (Shirwin Campbell)
