Bad public policy decisions

Dear Editor,
SUCCESSFUL public policy application usually requires bold, courageous decision-making. Timid and hesitant approaches in resolving public policy issues will bring stagnation, waste and regret. I say that to say that the results of the recent feasibility study rendered in the new Demerara Bridge situation are unacceptable and a huge disappointment.
The Demerara River needs at least one bridge that is high enough so that all river traffic could freely and easily pass underneath. Our short experience with retracting and other types of mechanically operated openings on bridges brought us nothing but nightmares, although we concede that they served, and still serve, to be of tremendous usefulness to commuters.

But that is hardly the point. When was the last time that something grand or bold was undertaken in this country? If my memory serves me correctly, I would say the MMA-ADA project, the Linden and Corentyne highways and the introduction of Social Security through NIS were the only successful major projects undertaken here, and they were done between the ‘50s and ‘70s. I would not classify the Marriott Hotel, the Providence Stadium, or the two floaters at Demerara and Berbice as major or bold, since the floaters were bad public policy.
I really think it is time for the people of this country to feel that warm feeling of pride that you feel when you accomplish something big (and pay for it with either your sweat, your cash or both). Of course, it will take vision (which is in very short supply around here), leadership, commitment and courage – as all good public policy decisions require courage. Bad public policy decisions take no effort or skin and we all know only too well what the consequences of those bad decisions look like.

We see the manifestations of them around us every day, especially when we look at the suffering of the working people as they spend hours after a long and hard day’s work waiting to get a place on a mini-bus to get home instead of going to a relaxing bus stop, knowing that they will get home safely and in relative comfort because of a dependable mode of public transportation that their government has either boldly provided or courageously invested in on their behalf. Do I need to mention here the need for bold and courageous intervention into the dire electricity situation that has the country in a death grip?

That proposed new low bridge across the Demerara River is certainly shaping up to be yet another bad public policy decision which will only continue the nightmares of commuters and bring disappointment and regret.
Guyana needs a shot of something, anything, either in the arm or down the hatch, to jolt it awake and get its developmental juices flowing (maybe for the first time) and that low, mechanically opening bridge is not going to do the job.
Go Bold! Go Big! Be courageous and build a proper bridge and watch Guyana awaken.
Dennis Northe
DIASPORA

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