Dear Editor,
It is considerably irritating to see the City Constabulary of Georgetown, move to a new frontier of venality, bribery and persecution; clearly with the consent and urging of the administration of the Council.
For many years these law enforcers who were better known as Market Constables, Sardine Police, etc were notorious for their hounding and harassment of vendors both stationary and itinerant, but they now seem to have outgrown this pool of victims and have new target groups.
For some odd reason without any call for assistance from the National Police or without any visible void in this area, the City Constabulary has jumped into traffic control and management. Clearly without any proper training these officers are not only redundant but indeed a nuisance, as they are hardly interested in improving traffic congestion and the ‘Hot Plate’ but are more interested in shaking down the minibuses, taxis and drivers at large for very frivolous reasons.
They could be seen all over the city annoying motorists with some fabricated traffic violations that they claim persons have committed in order to lure them back to City Hall to either waste the time of the motorist or to obtain a backhander to avoid an unjustified prosecution process.
The senior officer leading the charge of this racket is well known to every vendor in Georgetown for his dishonesty and bullyism, and should therefore be arrested by the national Police for his criminality, but rather is left to prey on poor people, an activity that he has accelerated with retirement approaching.
Why is the City Police not commissioned to bring an end to the noise nuisance created by the CD carts rolling around the city blasting music laced with the vilest of lyrics? Why is the City Police not dispatched to bring an end to the sale of rat poison and other toxic substances by vendors, something that is strictly prohibited by the Poison Control Board?
Why does the City Police not be made to stop the Three Card trick men from fleecing innocent passers-by? Why does the City Police not enforce the law that prevents men from displaying their genitals and from urinating in public, a most disgusting practice particularly for women? Should the City
Police not be utilising their time and effort to remove those vagrants from the pavements who cook, sleep, bathe and live right there?
Instead they are driving and riding around looking for persons that have building materials left outside their yards for a day or two to demand a bribe.
Rather than buying a garbage truck to clean the city, they have bought a tow truck to get involved in impounding vehicles. These Constables have been collecting fees from market vendors for years without issuing receipts. Where does the money go? In their pockets, of course.
How much longer must the poor vendors, motorists, and the public at large be left at the mercy of the City Constabulary and the Council? Could someone in authority please intervene and rescue us?
Sincerely,
Shanta Singh
