Despite intensified efforts by Police to curb drunk driving on the nation’s roadways, another person was killed as a result of the scourge.
Sixty-six-year-old pedal cyclist, Basil Rambarran of Farm Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara (EBD) was on Tuesday afternoon killed at Herstelling, EBD after he was struck down by minibus BLL 4739 driven by a 44-year old Soesdyke, Back Road resident.
The driver was subsequently arrested after he failed a breathalyser test where he was found to be over the legal limit of alcohol consumption. Police stated that the minibus driver was heading towards Timerhi when the cyclist reportedly crossed the road in the path of the oncoming minibus, which resulted in a collision. As a result, the elderly man fell onto the roadway and sustained severe injuries to his body. The father of two was employed with the founder of WRHM Channel 7, Senior Counsel Rex McKay as a caretaker and handyman for over 30 years.
Guyana Times International was told that when the accident occurred at 16:45h Tuesday, Rambarran was heading home from work. Relatives and friends recalled that the man was a quiet and friendly person who always checked in on his neighbours.
“Every morning I will see he and he will tell me ‘morning’,” his neighbour ‘Sunita’ told this publication. Another neighbour described Rambarran as having been a “good person”.
His step-son, Edmond Singh is trying to come to grips with the loss. He said that he was especially close to the deceased as he would normally take care of him.
When this newspaper arrived at the dead man’s residence on Wednesday afternoon, Singh and other relatives were preparing the yard for the wake. “Me step-father was good to [me], never show us a bad face. He comes and gaff and laugh with everybody on the road and he never disrespected anybody; he don’t drink. He [goes] on he bicycle and go he way straight and come he way straight,” the grieving man told Guyana Times International.
Singh further related that his step-father had assisted in the upbringing of his [Rambarran’s] grandchildren. The dead man’s immediate family members were present at a post-mortem examination (PME) conducted on Wednesday which revealed that the caretaker died from “multiple injuries”.
The driver of the minibus is expected to make his first court appearance at the Providence Magistrate’s soon. Rambarran leaves to mourn his common-law wife, Agnes Singh, his two daughters, numerous grandchildren, other relatives and friends.
