Regent St. a semi ‘dead zone’ hours after close of polls
The usually busy Regent Street as of 15:00hrs on Tuesday
A number of stores along the usually busy Regent Street Commercial area remain closed today, Tuesday even as the nation awaits the official announcement from the Guyana Elections Commission hours after citizens went to the polls yesterday, March 02, 2020. The results are eagerly anticipated as it will determine who will form the next government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
A visit along several parts of Regent Street resembled one of those days Guyana celebrates a national holiday or moreover as if it were a Sunday. Sundays and holidays in Guyana are usually very quiet with less pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Regent Street a commercial hub with shopping malls, dozens of roadside stalls and multiple shops and stores, selling from stationary and tread to vehicle spare parts and building materials, has earned the stretch of approximately 1.3kilometers of road, one of the busiest streets in Georgetown and by extension, the country and is known as a one-stop-shop for many local and visiting shoppers.
The closures of the various stores would seem like a direct result of the non-announcement of the final results and declaration of a winner in the elections. At the moment counting is still ongoing and statements of polls from several outlying areas are yet to be submitted and or posted at their place of poll.
In the past, businesses, especially in Georgetown would usually keep their doors closed the day before polls and days after as precautionary measures against possible looting and disturbances which were often considered to have taken place as supporters of either opposing sides of parties which headed to the polls would have expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the elections.
Persons traversing a sidewalk on Regemt Street even shutters are down.
The stores along Regent Street and other parts of Georgetown have however invested in metal shutters for their as compared to the wooden doors and in some instances glass facings and doors which were widely used in years gone by and would be easy to set fire to or be shattered respectively by looters. In some cases tooo, the wooded doors and glass facings are still present but are reinforced with the metal shutters.
It should be noted however that over the last three elections, Guyana has seen a marked reduction in election-related violence, looting, and burning which classified election outcomes and are virtually a thing of the past as the population displays a more mature and tolerant approach to elections and the outcomes.
Stores along another section of Regent Street remained which remained close following E-Day
The just-concluded elections are being termed ‘mother of all elections’ largely because it will throw into government, the group of persons who are expected to manage the instream revenue from Guyana’s oil production. The two main conders at the elections were the Peoples Progressive Party Civic and the A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance Force Change Coalition, the latter being the incumbent.
These elections remain crucial as it will require the country’s new president and his government (whoever they are) to make some very decisive decisions as it relates to investments, trade, and infrastructure among other things which will cement Guyana’s position in the world as the country prepares to be classified among the larger economies of the world given its new status of an oil-producing country.
This afternoon, the Private Sector Commission is expected to hosts a press conference and it is believed that will be addressing the issue of the closure of a number of businesses.
The Guyana Elections Commission is still tabulating votes from a number of areas across Guyana and had its second press conference this morning following the close of polls last evening at 18:00hrs.
