Tues. Apr. 6, 2021– Back in the hustle after the Easter weekend, and the haad-time Covid noose is getting tighter; like the few dollars not stretching the way they used to. Trying to figure out how to stretch it till the next half-pay day, while the cozy unions are raising hell about their ten per cent.

Goodness knows how those without even a half-pay day to look forward to are managing right now. Hope a “boost” or a “pantry” or a little helping hand is there to see us all through. There’s no such thing here as “unemployment benefits” or “stimulus package” to soften the Covid induced economic blow-out that has all except the well-to-do staggering. At least I’m still getting at least two meals a day; give thanks.

But, now is not the time, Mr. Traffic Man! Not when I’ve just scraped off the last of my little savings at the ATM.

I haul the curve in my old pick-up and pull up in front of my favorite fruit vendor near the Buttonwood Bay Roundabout. There’s lots of parking space beside the sidewalk up ahead, so I don’t stop, as I normally would right in front of the fruit vendor’s stall. Instead, I go about thirty feet further ahead and cut my engine. I leave the windows down and my cell phone on the front seat, something I’ve never done before, and I hop out and take the few steps to the street-side fruit stall, glancing back to make sure my truck is safe. It’s a quick pick up, a plastic bag, fourteen bananas, and I take one step inside the vendor-stall passage way and hand two dollar-coins to the lady in charge. And I hurry back to my pickup. The whole transaction couldn’t have taken more than two minutes.

Lo and behold! Seemingly from out of nowhere, as I approach the rear of my pickup, there is this uniformed Traffic Officer standing abreast of my pickup bonnet, and he is writing something in a book. “Are you serious?”, I ask him. “Is that a parking ticket you’re giving me, sir? Didn’t you see, I just stopped to pick up some bananas and be off again? It’s just a little wait; I wasn’t parked but for a few moments.”

The officer is cool, stern and adamant. “You see that sidewalk edge painted red all the way up to the pedestrian crossing? All that is a no-parking area.”

I am flabbergasted; angry, but helpless. The officer is right, technically and legally, maybe. But, morally? Something is, oh so wrong about this situation!

“Officer, you mean you couldn’t just give us a warning that you would begin enforcing this long neglected rule?” (Actually, I hadn’t noticed the red sidewalk before.) No luck. He hands me a pink ticket.

For a two-minute pick-up of some bananas, I now must pay a parking ticket for twenty-five hard-earned dollars. It feels so much like our city traffic officers are deployed, not to facilitate traffic flow, but just to pounce on us to raise funds for the city in the name of managing traffic; and rumor has it that they get a commission.

Did somebody complain?

Passing by the same corner an hour later on an errand, I noticed five cars parked beside the same red-painted sidewalk edge, stretching from in front of the fruit vendor to near the pedestrian crossing, with no officer in sight. But when I returned after half an hour, no vehicles were there anymore; instead, there was a different traffic officer with a fluorescent vest, apparently doing foot patrols in the area. I wondered, are there five more angry drivers with tickets to pay?

Let’s be reasonable.

Parking is indeed a nightmare in this old fashioned, congested city. It seems that everywhere there is now a sidewalk edge painted red. And my humble opinion is that in some of these areas it is quite unnecessary, and extremely inconvenient to motorists. Examples?

Take in front of Atlantic Bank on Freetown Road. That road is wide enough for four traffic lanes heading east towards the Central Assembly compound gate. The only inconvenience to anyone for vehicles parked along this stretch of sidewalk, is for the drivers of those same vehicles when re-entering traffic, and that is only when traffic is heavy; you just have to wait a little. Those parked vehicles have zero impact on the flow of traffic; but in the present situation, it could cost you a parking ticket. (Ask G. Mike.)

And that same Buttonwood Bay Roundabout fruit vendor area. There is a bus stop just before the pedestrian crossing fifty yards west; and in the brief moments when the bus makes its stop, a parked vehicle there would be an obstruction, so enforcing no-parking there makes sense. But the rest of the sidewalk from the fruit vendor westwards, except for one driveway, is perfectly accommodating for road users needing to stop and make a purchase. And, the rest of the road being more than wide enough for two-lane traffic, the only inconvenience would be for the same parked cars re-entering traffic during the rush-hours.

If the objective of the Traffic Department is to knock the fruit vendor near the Buttonwood Bay Roundabout out of business, then it should proceed with this new strict enforcement of that whole area as a no-parking zone. Some drivers will think twice about walking fifty yards plus to that fruit vendor; perhaps better to try the one on Coney Drive across from Buttonwood Bay Nazarene school, where there is no sidewalk to paint red. I am sure the impact of this no-parking policy, along with nowhere to park, is also affecting other businesses in downtown Belize City.

Wherever there are spaces available for vehicle parking, it makes sense to evaluate the situation, and determine if the community would be better served if some time-restrictions were placed instead. Because, if some drivers are allowed to use up all the “green” parking spaces, and leave their vehicles parked for hours, what are other drivers to do when there is nowhere to park? This has seldom been a problem at my roundabout fruit vendor or at Atlantic Bank Freetown, where drivers usually stop to do their business transaction, and then move on. Perhaps it is time for parking meters in Belize; or at least enforce parking tickets only for those who abuse the precious parking space for more than a determined time limit. Of course, bus stops would remain strictly no-parking areas.

Until there are some changes, motorists are advised, wherever you see a red sidewalk, beware the Traffic Hit Man.