Dear Editor,

Thanks for being the only newspaper in Guyana that tells a story with real facts. I am a (Guyanese) US citizen who recently visited Guyana in the last week of August 2007.

On August 30, I waited in line at the New Amsterdam Berbice river crossing for six hours before crossing over to Rosignol - what a nightmare.

I stood at the gate and watched friends from Skeldon arrive late at the stelling, but who were able to obtain priority status while the line kept getting longer and longer. Here is how it works.

You arrive late at the stelling, you don't get in line. You drive all the way up to the traffic police. You offer him $2,000 and another $2,000 for the gate-man, and voilá, you get to go in the boat first.

The traffic police working that day between 1 and 6 pm, while I waited in line collected lots of bribes, the gate-man collected the same amount too.

I know because I appro-ached them to understand the corruption first hand. I was told $5,000 to cross. The system would work like this: the car I was travelling in would get out of the line, drive into New Amsterdam, and then come back to the traffic police to present a priority crossing situation.

I heard the whole scenario, but came back to the car and refused to pay any bribes. I waited in line and watched corruption at its best in Guyana. I got to the stelling at 1 pm, and crossed over at 6 pm. 'Guyana is really getting better!'

These bribe-takers need to be investigated and fired. But who is watching whom? The whole of Guyana is about making a dollar. There is no system in place at the airport or any other government location for that matter. People at the airport wanted a bribe to put me up front in the line. People with overweight were asked to pay half of the fee without a receipt, so officials got to pocket the money. These corrupt practices are detrimental to Guyana's economy.

Yours faithfully,

Azaam Hamid