MOPI team meeting with GPF on heavy duty Machines on public roads.

On Tuesday, March 5, 2019, a delegation from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MoPI) with permission from Minister of Public Infrastructure, Hon. David Patterson, met with Police Commissioner Leslie James DSS and Traffic Officer, Senior Superintendent Linden Isles of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to discuss a plan of action to address the matter of owners and operators of heavy-duty machines, who are damaging and blocking traffic on public roads in areas across the country.

The representatives from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure were Patrick Thompson, Chief Transport Planning Officer; Kester Hinds, Manager -Traffic/Safety/Maintenance; Andrew Weekes, Public Communications Officer and Dr. Sewnauth Punalall, Coordinator, National Taskforce Commission.

The Ministry has made several attempts over the years, to curb the situation involving operators with heavy duty machinery, but the blatant disregard by many operators to the damages made to public roads continued.

Commissioner Leslie James, in his contribution to the discussion, advised that while the Force can arrest and prosecute those who failed to adhere to Chapter 51:01 of the Road Act of the Laws of Guyana, careful consideration should be taken in addressing the matter.

And so it was that at the Tuesday meeting MoPI & GPF agreed to:

1. Launch a public relations campaign to educate farmers and owners of heavy-duty machinery about the dangers of leaving their equipment on the roadways during the day and nights, which can and have caused a number of injuries and deaths. Additionally, the campaign will focus on educating those individuals about the damages caused to the roadway when traversed by the equipment. This campaign will take the form of printed and electronic media, Public Service Announcements (PSAs), Social Media etc.
2. Sensitization meetings will be held between the Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana Rice Development Board, The Farmers Association of Guyana and the Guyana Rice Producers Association etc.
3. Town Hall meetings will be held in Regions 2,3, 4,5 and 6.
4. Permission has been granted by Commissioner Leslie James for MOPI to meet with Commanders of the Divisions within the aforementioned regions, to educate them about the dangers to life and limb and the need for their support to discourage farmers and owners of heavy-duty machinery from damaging public roads.
5. Importers of heavy-duty machinery must provide to buyers a toolkit which will allow farmers to attach safety mechanisms (tyres) to the wheels of those machines to prevent damages to public roads.
6. The awareness campaign timeline will run from March 8th to September 9th 2019. Upon the expiration of the timeline farmers who are found culpable will be prosecuted with the full penalty of the law according to Chapter 51:01 of the Road Act of the laws of Guyana. However, this timeline will not overlook farmers and owners of heavy-duty machinery who are found blatantly destroying public roads with their heavy-duty equipment between the periods.