Cop crashes new force pick-up during overtaking attempt
Just a day after new pick-ups were received by ‘B’ Division, a police officer yesterday afternoon crashed one of the vehicles during a bid to overtake a buildup of traffic along the Canefield Public Road.
The pick-up crashed into a car, which spun and ended up in the middle of the road, while the police vehicle landed in a nearby drain.
Stabroek News arrived at the scene seconds after the collision and observed occupants of both vehicles exiting. No one was seriously injured.
According to the driver of the car, Deonarine Gangapersaud, 42, he was “turning into a bridge” opposite Galaxy Street, in Canefield Village, East Canje, when the police vehicle, “coming with a speed,” overtook a sugar truck land then slammed into his car.
Gangapersaud noted that his wife and four-year-old son were present in the car at the time of the collision. He stressed that he was thankful that no one was injured.
Meanwhile, the driver of the police vehicle was taken to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital a short while after his colleagues arrived on the scene. At least two police officers were in the vehicle.
A source said, that the vehicle was heading to the Reliance Police Station. According to the source, the police vehicle sustained minor damage. It was noted that an investigation has since been launched.
Only on Wednesday, a simple ceremony was held at the Central Police Station, in New Amsterdam to officially announce that the division had received 10 new pick-ups, which were donated by the government of China.
At the ceremony Commander of ‘B’ Division, Lyndon Alves said, “We will try our utmost to upkeep these vehicles so it can better serve our nation.”
He had explained, that the vehicles
households will cause “tension and stress.”
“People nah gon get money now and what they got they gon’ have to pinch. Everybody gonna be on they nerves and stressed because people now got to worry about how long they savings going to last and if they gon get a new job. Arguments gon start easy and soon you might hear about nuff people getting chop and all those things,” one resident said.
Inevitable
While the time of the mass layoffs comes to some of the workers as a shock, some of them said that the estate was being badly managed and its closure was inevitable.
“The only opinion I can give is that nobody gon open a shop if it not profitable and that is what is happening. Because cost factor is over the head and nobody will try to contribute and take out they money from they pocket and push into something they don’t see a return [on],” John McGarrell said.
The man explained that when the APNU+AFC government took office in 2015, the entire management system should have been changed.
Another cane transporter, Partab Daby, who has been working in the sugar industry for more than 25 years, said that the estate is in its current state because enough effort was not put into its maintenance. He explained that most of the cane fields are overrun with vegetation that is sometimes taller than the cane and the drains and water systems have not been cleaned properly.
“Check them dam and trench. You can walk over them. You see them condition? They should’ve maintained the estates properly and is that ripener that destroy the whole estate... You got all them things blocking up and one machine can’t pull one punt. So you have to use more than one and that means you got to spend more money on fuel and on maintenance because they nah take care of the fields them properly,” Daby said.
In addition to Enmore, other surrounding communities, where a large number of workers reside, are expected to also be affected.