Anna Regina parent appeals to President Ali
Dear Editor,
This letter is being directed to the President because all other appeals, to ministers, officials and bureaucrats, over the last several years, have been met with deaf ears.
Mr. President, you are our last hope. The students of Anna Regina are in grave danger because of greedy businessmen and apathetic politicians. Anna Regina is the main educational hub for Essequibo. It is home to two large public high schools, a privately run Islamic high school, a primary school that is the largest in the country, three nursery schools, multiple daycare facilities and places of private lessons for all levels, a technical college, an agricultural school, a teachers training college and countless other educational and support facilities. Thousands of students commute to Anna Regina for school from the length and breadth of Region Two and must, therefore, walk along the walkways and sidewalks of Anna Regina. The government has provided very ample sidewalks to accommodate this need and to create a safe and orderly environment for our students and the public.
However, the greedy, inconsiderate, lawless and downright criminal behaviour of most of the large businesses along the Anna Regina main road has nullified the safety and order the government has provided to these students. These businesses have bullied their way into placing permanent, enclosed structures over the public sidewalks and are using these permanent structures as extensions of their businesses, denying the public and students the use and safety of the sidewalks. These bullies are forcing the community and the students to use the actual main road where there is heavy vehicular traffic as a footpath.
It boggles the mind that these businesses can with impunity annex public property, that actively serves the public by providing an essential function, and convert it to private use without any consequence. How is this fair to the thousands of taxpayers who paid to have these sidewalks built? How can the government allow this lawlessness? How can the government so casually place citizens at risk like this?
This is an ongoing situation for several years now, and it has been getting progressively worst. I am surprised no one has yet been killed in an automobile accident. Perhaps this is what it will take for the government to get up and rectify this atrocious state of affairs. Perhaps the tragedy of a heavily laden sand truck running over an innocent gaggle of bright-faced school children, splattering their blood and brains over their crisp green and white uniforms and leaving their mangled little bodies and crushed skulls pressed into the middle of the road for all to see, is what the government is waiting for before it can be galvanised into action.
Mr. President, FIX this lawlessness before any child dies needlessly. Thank you.
A Concerned Parent (on behalf of thousands of concerned parents and teachers)
