Dear Editor,

Hearing about corruption and dishonest practices in Guyana today, one would think that it’s exaggeration or people are just tired of hearing about that, but we all fail to see what we are turning into or what we have to do in order to go about our daily lives.

On Friday, March 14, we visited the Parika stelling and inquired about the procedure for boarding the car ferry to Essequibo and the times of the boat. We decided to go on the 4 am boat on Saturday.

We were informed that we would have to be there early to book because the ferry only had a certain amount of space and sometimes vehicles had to wait for the next boat. In order to avoid missing the boat, we went around 9.30pm on Friday, and the security guard wrote down our vehicle’s number on a paper that already had the numbers of other vehicles and told us the boat had space for us and we would be on. We decided to drive around and come back, because it was very early so we returned at 12.35am on Saturday. There were a few vehicles parked so we joined the line and waited. The ticket seller came very late so there was confusion when we were told that some vehicles might not make it because there were a lot of vehicles which couldn’t get on the last boat and also many vehicles had started to book since the previous morning, and we were just listed on standby.

I pointed out that when we inquired the previous morning, the person didn’t tell us that we could have booked the vehicle’s number then, and when we came back again if we had been told about the situation, we could have made a decision whether to wait or not. Things started to really heat up, especially when vehicles came after us and boarded the ferry, saying that they were priority vehicles. The Superintendent refused to talk or explain anything to us, but could be seen conversing with selected people who seemed to be known to him. Some irate drivers started to get very rowdy and threatened to block the gate. Eventually, our confidence was boosted when one from my group showed an interest in offering some small change to make our vehicle’s number go on the list.

After a while the vehicle was boarded and I continued to observe what was going on, because I wasn’t pleased, especially when there were people with babies and small children who seemed to be on the verge of crying. When most of the vehicles were boarded I ventured onto the ferry feeling a little better. Editor, after a while there wasn’t space for any more vehicles but I saw all the drivers who had been creating a fuss on the ferry and one of them said all the vehicles got on. After reaching our destination, I inquired from the staff there about the procedure for the next boat to return and the time. I was told the boat leaves at 4pm and to just come and book in when ready to board. That boat left at 3.09pm that afternoon, and I started wondering if the staff of the stelling were not being paid enough so they were creating an environment to get more money. Are they not trained properly to handle confusion? Do they work by schedule or just make decisions on the spot?

There was a manager from Banks DIH throughout the whole ordeal and his vehicle wasn’t on board when we left Essequibo. Did he miss it on purpose or was it because he was working with the time the staff told us, because he was there when I asked about it. I was there two hours early because my business was finished and I didn’t have anything else to do.

Yours faithfully, 
Sahadeo Bates

Editor’s note

We are sending a copy of this letter to the Transport and Harbours Department for any comment they might wish to make.