On Monday, April 04th, a 74-year-old man had his head crushed by a Mayor and City Council tractor as it headed to offload goods on Water Street, Georgetown.
The Water Street area which will be cleared of all illegal vendors by the Mayor and City Council following a fatal accident there
Eyewitnesses said that the man, identified by police as Compton Lacon, stumbled and fell alongside the tractor whilst the machine was still in motion, causing his demise. When Guyana Times International arrived on the scene, a crowd was gathered around the limp corpse, which lay covered under a polypropylene bag (salt bag). Beside him lay a bag of groceries that he was presumably carrying at the time. It was reported that the driver was turning the tractor left to head towards the John Fernandes Limited when tragedy struck.
Though he declined comment, this newspaper overheard the driver relating the incident to some of his colleagues from the Mayor and City Council. Mayor Hamilton Green, who arrived moments later, affirmed that the man was advised not to speak with the media, and as a result, declined to furnish his name. However, the mayor stated that, from his reports, the deceased was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, which resulted in him colliding with the wheel of the tractor.
He stated that the driver of the tractor, ‘Charles’, was performing his regular duties at the time of the incident, since he is daily responsible for taking the tractor to provide fuel for the council’s drainage pump in the vicinity of John Fernandes Ltd. However, he added that there is a bigger issue involved: “Something we have to look at is whether there is an over-congestion in this area.” He suggested that this could have been a reason for the accident.
Some constables from the City Constabulary were overheard remarking that the corner where the accident occurred was only recently cleared of vendors, who returned to the location soon after the clearing exercise.
Lacon’s body was taken to the Lyken Funeral Parlour, while ‘Charles’ is said to be in police custody, assisting with investigations.
