Barbados has become a playground for the lawless, and the authorities charged with maintaining order have retreated and surrendered (thank you, President Bostic). The police, the Licensing Authority, and the Government have allowed the country to descend into a state where recklessness is ignored, lawbreaking is normalised, and public safety is trivialised. The highways and byways are the clearest evidence of a country in seemingly terminal decline – there is speeding, bobbing and weaving, tint abuse, noise pollution (especially from motorbikes), AND let us not forget the PSVs.
The Barbados Police Service (BPS) is unable to enforce the law to instill fear of the law. Every day, Barbadians witness dangerous overtaking, blinding headlights, illegal tint use, motorcycles without plates, motorists using handheld mobile phones, and PSVs behaving like they own the roads. Yet the police response remains inadequate. A country cannot claim to be serious about law and order when its police force cannot enforce basic rules of the road for whatever reason. If the BPS cannot ensure traffic discipline, how can it be trusted to confront rising violent crime?
On a 21 miles long and 14 miles wide island what is being witnessed on the roads daily should be a source of embarrassment for our planners… Where are the traffic cops and wardens missing from the bottleneck areas to assist with relieving the congestion and deterring some of the lawlessness? – Barbados Underground
Then there is the Government – the lead perpetrator. As we wait for the outcome of from the national traffic consultation chaired by Minister Kirk Humphrey, we continue to be locked in gridlock and lawlessness on the roads – paying high insurance costs as a result. High insurance claims are not an accident; they are representative of systemic national problem.
The Government has been pushing the next #bigworks project with the construction of flyovers. What Barbados really needs is enforcement. Barbados needs institutions to function. Flyovers will not fix a culture where drivers ignore traffic laws and exercise a lack of driving ettiequte on the roads, Until the police enforce, Licensing Authority with the support of the Barbados Revenue Service perform better, AND Government stops ignoring the chaos, Barbados will continue its slide.
There was a time not too long ago the Police, BRA (formerly Inland Revenue) and other oversight agencies were respected and even feared by members of the public, this is no longer the case.
The chaos on the road is a mirror image of Barbadians, and right now it reflects a country that has lost its sense of order. As we participate in our 60 & 5 Independence celebrations, the time has come for Minister Kirk Humphrey to earn his senior minister’s salary. Prime Minister Mottley is always boasting about Humphrey’s ivy league education. He failed at the Blue Economy and Elder Affairs ministries, it is time for him and his cabinet colleagues to deliver on alleviating the traffic chaos..
Are we there yet.
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