Guyana Electrical Consultants & Associates

The world is witnessing an unprecedented increase in the demand for vehicles, particularly in developing economies. Guyana, with an improved GDP per capita as compared with 15 years ago, is witnessing a growing demand for faster modes of passenger and freight transport. In 2004, Guyana imported 7,757 vehicles as compared with 2,954 in 1989, close to an increase of 5,000 additional vehicles. This increasing number of vehicles creates an increased demand for better roads which in turn propels expansion of infrastructural assets, and impacts positively on economic growth. However, without appropriate strategies to improve road safety, road accidents and deaths are becoming an ever-increasing problem in Guyana and in the world especially the developing world. According to a WHO/World Bank jointly produced report, road traffic injuries were the 11th leading cause of death in 2002. Without appropriate corrective action, the WHO estimates that by 2020 road deaths will outpace AIDS, malaria, and war as the world’s third largest public health challenge after heart disease and depression.

In addition to deaths, the WHO/World Bank report reveals that between 30 and 45 injuries accompany every road death, many involving permanent disability and high lifetime costs of ongoing care, support, as well as loss of earnings. Developing countries like Guyana are, and will continue to be, the hardest hit with road accidents, injuries and deaths posing a significant monetary cost to the government and the economy as a whole.

This “hidden epidemic” of road accidents, injuries and deaths goes unacknowledged in discussions of strategies on public health matters in countries like Guyana. In 2002 alone, an estimated 1.2 million people were killed worldwide, and 20-50 million more injured, with 80 per cent of the fatalities occurring in low and middle-income countries, the report notes. And it is the most productive age group (15-44 years), often in the lowest income bracket, which accounts for the highest injury and death rates. The combined costs of health care, loss of incomes, and funeral costs can have a ruinous effect on both households and communities. At a macroeconomic level, the WHO estimates that road traffic injuries cost low and middle-income countries between 1% and 2% of their GDP and carry approximately a US$65 billion price tag in developing countries, outstripping the amount these nations receive in development assistance.

In Guyana, the situation is no different. There are no statistics on the cost of road accidents but the number of deaths are climbing. And one of the leading causes of accidents, apart from speeding, is stray animals.

The Road Act, Chapter 51:01 clearly states in Section 27 (1) that “all cattle (in this section cattle means, horses, donkeys, cows, sheep, goats and swine or pigs) tethered, straying or grazing on any road may be seized and impounded by a Road Officer, a District Commissioner (basically an NDC or Town Council Official), a Policeman or anyone authorized by the Chief Roads Officer. Further, Section 27 (2) states that all swine found straying on a road may be destroyed by anyone and their carcasses shall belong to the person destroying them.

Section 28 (1) of the said Act states that every one who permits any cattle belonging to him to stray shall be subject to a fine of between G$1,500 and G$4,500. This law is quite clear on stray animals, notwithstanding that the fine is too low and should have been more in the range of $50,000 per animal.

Animals are quite a hazard for drivers in Guyana and every day you are exposed to them on the roadway. Yet the authorities remain unperturbed and continue to turn a blind eye to this deadly nuisance. They are yet to find it fit to enforce the Road Act when it comes to animals, much less update the fines.

On any given day, as I drive to work, I witness from horses to donkeys, to cows or sheep, to goat to swine, all grazing on our public roadways and in a few extreme cases running around and acting as traffic policemen, halting the smooth flow of traffic.

This is a serious matter. In addition to the trauma of an accident, motorists have a very slim chance of collecting any insurance unless they have comprehensive insurance. Injuries sustained and income loss from down time, add to the loss or damage of property while injuries add to the burden of the health system, money the public health system can ill afford.

Section 28 of the Road Act should be strengthened to give the government the authority to seize animals found on the roadways and to auction them off after a public notice in the daily newspapers fails to realize the owner.

The fines should be increased substantially to make it prohibitive on owners letting their animals run wild on the roadways. Animals have a role and a place in our society and it is most certainly not on our roads.

India has effectively dealt with stray animals and we should seek their help in solving this problem if necessary. Empirical evidence and logics demonstrate that “stray animals”, please note stray, are not beneficial to a country. A multi-stakeholder approach can be adopted, with the enforcer ensuring that the defaulting animal owners put their house in order. I am sure, with such a strategy, our roads can be animal free.

The policymakers must implement the public policy lessons learnt from past experiences, especially with respect to animals on the road. Low cost technologies and institutional innovations need to be implemented to underpin the required safety improvements in Guyana.

Guyana could embrace a multi-sector road safety initiative which considers the losses to the economy and the benefits of minimizing these.

The private sector would need to become actively involved in such a multi-sector initiative in part because of the risks and opportunities to their businesses as a result of accidents and in recognition that the factors driving road safety fatalities require a total systems approach engaging all stakeholders.

The WHO/World Bank report recommended that a lead government agency needs to guide the national road safety effort, preferably the Police and the Ministry of Transport; assess the problem, policies and institutional setting relating to road traffic injury and the capacity for road traffic injury prevention; prepare a national road safety strategy and plan of action; secure financial and human resources to address the problem; and implement specific actions to prevent road traffic crashes, minimize injuries and their consequences. This should include involving the Private Sector and NGOs in a national road safety coalition to secure road safety.

I trust that the appropriate authorities will do something about these stray animals and speeding which continue to cheat many Guyanese of their lives (182 lives to be exact, in 2005).