We have to be more cautious on our waterways

Dear Editor,
Even though I don’t know the relatives of the late Latchman Benjie, my children and I would like to express our heartfelt sympathies to his family and relatives for their loss, which I am quite sure will leave such small children traumatized for a very long time.
Over the years, I have been travelling to many places in Guyana, and using the waterways was the main way of travelling; and based on my observation, I have concluded that citizens, on the whole, are very irresponsible with their lives, whilst they also endanger other people’s lives. Most of them are accustomed to one way of life, and even though it’s dangerous, they prefer that way instead of adopting changes that would be safer for them and others.
With the change in Government, many rules that was there but were not being implemented were being reinforced, but those who directly would be affected have protested against this move.
Editor, the reason I say this is because most of my time at different locations, my attention would be drawn to the dangerous scenes around me, and I would always point them out; and many would ignore, or they would defend these actions, saying that is what they accustomed to. At many places, public and private water transportation could be seen traversing the waterways at night without any lights on the boat. On the waterway, sometimes it’s very dark and visibility is very poor, one cannot see upcoming traffic until its close. Many of these boats, owned by individuals for their personal use, would be laden with various items, and sometimes they are overloaded, making the boat sway in the water dangerously, especially when the water is rough. What is more dangerous is that sometimes they would have their families in the boat, and sometimes some might be small children, and not one life jacket could be seen in any of these boats that are being used for personal purposes. Go to Hubu Koker and see many families loading their boats or discharging their goods, and most of the boats are barely above the water. They prefer making one trip to save gas, risking lives instead of doing the right thing.
All over I went to is the same way everyone operates. Sometimes you are lucky to see children as small as seven years old manoeuvring an engine boat. While this is admirable, it’s also dangerous, especially when the boat is laden. As is the case of Latchman Benjie, if he had on long boots, those should never have been on, because many people would tell you that is a dangerous move, especially if you have to go into water.
Editor, those responsible should ensure proper safety precautions are in place, and private boats should have life jackets, especially for children; lights on the boats for nights, and emergency life rings on it. There should be a limitation to weights on the boats, based on the boat size. In order to save lives, we must ensure these rules are in place. Even though it might be hard for them to regulate themselves, they should, because not every day an accident occurs or who have more experience and knows what he/she is doing. Over the years, we’ve heard of many accidents on the waterways, and most of them are deadly compared to the roadways. That should tell us that the waterway have no sympathy; even though boats travel around 10-40 feet away from land, lives are still being lost.

Sahadeo Bates