By Tracey Khan – Drakes
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Commissioner of Police (ag) Seelall Persaud has acknowledged that the traffic situation which has led to the loss of lives on the country’s roadway is a major challenge that the Force is working to effectively address.
Speaking to the press recently, Persaud said their challenge is due to the shortage of equipment for traffic ranks; however, through partnerships on several levels this will be resolved.
“Traffic has been a big issue; equipment such as the breathalyzers and speed guns are very limited, we are trying to acquire more through our own partnerships and through budgetary process which you know is annual, so we have to wait for next year’s budget to get some more from the Government. Outside of that, there are people coming forward and business entities that make contributions so we are engaging them giving specification on cost and so on so that we can do that,” the Police Commissioner said.
Speaking about the Police Force recent strategy to publicly shame persons who are caught drinking and driving, Persaud said it has begun to have the impact that they had hope for.
A number of persons have been charged and their pictures being publicized through this campaign against drunk driving dubbed the ‘name and shame’ campaign.
“We think it will have an impact, we don’t think there is one solution to this, it has to be multiple fronts and that is just one additional front that were taking…the comments in the press is working because this thing needs to drive home at the level of the family, at the stage of the breakfast table you know these types of discussions and a lot of the recklessness are coming from very young people as well.”
The total number of road fatality in 2014 is approximately 146. According to a Police report, pedestrians have been the main road users affected. The Guyana Police Force believes that speeding continues to be a major contributing factor to fatal accidents.
You aĺl need to ha e officers undercover so they can trail some of these guys and oberve the recklessness which they exercise on the road. They also need to have officers around the banks and oberve those bastards that follow people and rob them. More street lights are needed in gt. And those that are not working needs to be fixed.