GUYANA'S TAPIRS AND MINI BUSES- A TRAGIC SONATA

 GUYANA'S TAPIRS AND MINI BUSES - A TRAGIC SONATA...I wrote this in 2014.

She is gone! I didn't know! Nobody told me! I was upset and at the same time exceedingly happy that she was no longer there . When I was growing up, with high levels of testosterone, hormones racing through my body, she took me almost everywhere, within the boundaries of my town. Sometimes the rides were bumpy, jerky and full of excitement, but I always got to my destination, even though, at times, with heart throbbing trepidation! 

 I found out recently, on a visit to Guyana, that the TAPIR , a motor vehicle that provided taxi service on the Upper Corentyne, was no longer in business.

I grew up with Tapirs. Tapirs were assembled and introduced to Guyana by AINLIM. They were intended to replace the motor cars that were plying the roads in Guyana. They were cheap, and in short time, were seen all over Guyana. However, because of a tendency to sway, rock and roll, and in many cases roll over, they were gradually replaced by mini buses. But discarded Tapirs were never left homeless. They found a home on the upper Corentyne and flooded the streets of Corriverton, a town locally called 'Tapir Town'.

The mini buses came and created a fiercely dangerous and deadly competition. Tapirs and mini buses raced along the roads, with wanton disregard for the people they carried and those who used the roads in the normal execution of their daily activities.  It was a challenge to walk and ride on the routes that these vehicles took. 

The mini buses that serviced Corriverton, and elsewhere in Guyana, were  always in high speed,  turning and switching lanes at breathtaking speeds, in their efforts to overtake slower vehicles, like the Tapir, so as to get to awaiting passengers before the slower vehicles could.  

Many Tapirs never operated and worked on the longer routes in Guyana. They only did if they had to make special runs. These routes were the unchallenged domain of the mini buses, and in their efforts to make as much money as possible, they travelled at breakneck speeds to make as many trips between two points.

The rising rate of deadly road accidents, across the country, has forced Guyanese to seek better and safer modes of transportation. It was refreshing to see the comeback of the five - seat and seven - seat motor cars, which ply the short and long routes. Of course, even with these, drunk and careless drivers, will still cause accidents, but that is a problem for the authorities, since my observation is deliberately limited to the disappearing act performed by AINLIM'S  Tapirs.

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