Dear Editor,

A long-held assumption about the Caribbean and non-industrialised countries in general is the tardy approach to work, which I suppose has become a self-fulfilling prophecy in Guyana.  Arrive at most public sector agencies and many locally owned private sector entities at 0800 hours or 8 am and one finds employees now straggling into the office (it takes about 30 min to settle into one’s day) or waiting for the supervisor to arrive and open up shop.

This scene although relevant to the public space is also observed in the private space.  I use the 30 minute rule for my appointments, and give myself an extra half hour because more likely than not, the other attendees will turn up late.  It’s become commonplace in the diaspora to hear persons set appointments and use the phrase, “not Guyanese time” to reinforce timeliness.  Travel along Regent Street, which I think we should rename Waiting Street, and this culture of tardiness which negates the growth of our GDP, industrial productivity and our respect for timeliness especially in our 24 hours days, can readily be observed.

We have become a nation of late-comers. An example of this practice occurred just recently when the personnel responsible for finalising Oliver Hinckson’s bail release were either absent from their post or arrived long after the start of the work day.

Coupled with the significant number of holidays we enjoy, the relatively high electricity cost, low-wages, working conditions, the emigration pattern and the red tape tactics employed by many workers, particularly in the public sector, etc, it’s no wonder that our socio-economic bases are proving unfavourable to  competition, and corruption passes as an integrated element of the service delivery profile and job-description of the instruments of delivery.

Empirical data are available to confirm all the aforementioned, together with other causes of Guyana’s relatively weak competitiveness and poor economic status, when we are strategically placed (geographically) and endowed with perhaps more natural resources (type and abundance) than any other Caricom country.  However, at this juncture my aim is to simply raise awareness of this practice which passes under the radar as a normal feature of our workplace and national culture, and to encourage all managers, supervisors, decision-makers and mid and junior-level workers to emphasise timeliness and its benefits, and to be practitioners of timeliness.

Yours faithfully,
R Small