Dear Editor,
On Sunday, June 1, 2025, I attended the funeral of Shiv on the Essequibo Coast. Shiv, who was struck down and killed in a road accident one month after his 17th birthday, was the son of one of my nephews. He was a pedestrian and the accident occurred during the period when he was writing the CXC exams.
In my tribute at the funeral, I challenge the leaders present (religious leaders, educators, political leaders, senior and retired public servants and community leaders who were in attendance) to start a conversation on the phenomenon (I used a stronger classification) of road accidents in Guyana. I am optimistic that the start of a focused conversation on the issue will get traction with sufficient intensity to propel the issue onto the formal agenda. I am also optimistic that we have adequate minds in Guyana to turn the tides.
Our experiences of more roads, more vehicles, more laws and better enforcement has not delivered a change in the trends and without additional interventions, it is not likely that we will achieve different results. Human lives will continue to become statistics on our roads.
Considering that contemporary vehicles are equipped with better braking, steering and other systems as well as with several alert systems, it is easy to conclude that alerts are ignored by some and, therefore, one can conclude that two significant contributing factors to road accidents are the judgements and decision making, or lack thereof, of drivers. Judgements, and decision making, by pedestrians are also a significant factor in road accidents. It follows that there is need for significant efforts to be made to change some attitudes of members of our society and to reinforce other attitudes.
We live in a highly-competitive world which requires quick judgements and decisions and fast actions in order to remain relevant. The question is how do we operate at a fast rate and still make sound judgement. It is understood that the values which individuals embrace are brought to bear on the decisions they take and with that in mind, I placed on the table, (during my tribute), the “skyscraper model”.
The skyscraper model requires engineers to go downwards at calculated depths to construct a solid foundation even before constructing the first floor of the skyscraper in order to keep the building from toppling. Applying this model to our society will require our social engineers to give us the blueprint to create a community of people who, while still being innovative and efficient, embrace values such as love, compassion, empathy and respect for other people and property.
Our general welfare can be significantly boosted with such initiative.
Yours sincerely,
Seelall Persaud
Retired Commissioner of Policea
