Dear Editor,
Black Stalin of calypso fame sang a great calypso some years ago called ‘Bun Dem’. In the afterlife the ‘famous’ colonial figures are thrown into the flames by no less a personage than St Peter. Great kaiso!
In contemporary political life the ‘Bun Dem’ approach is a confession of lack of skills and a serious misunderstanding of what authority is all about. Mervyn Williams describes the exit of vital support staff from the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. Why is this happening? Have all offended? Are they all incompetent? OR is there a very vicious and dangerous plot afoot to silence the dissenting voice? If this is so, then the powers that be do not understand the huge value of critical comment.
Critical comment is vital to the committed manager. It is the foundation of dialogue. Invite it! Discuss the views which are not your own. Describe these views in your own words to demonstrate understanding. Then, dismiss the views if you must. Do not say to those who disagree, ‘Take yuh snow cone cart and go!’ The manager is insecure and deficient who does this.
I was most fortunate to serve in a setting which was monitored by auditors who came unannounced, expected handwritten accounts and if unsatisfied refused to sign accounts. The forensic auditors would follow. Money from fundraising had to have ‘in’ and ‘out’ receipt books. Auditors expected to see items purchased. This was a safe system to work in based on accountability and transparency. Not every accounting flaw is a result of ‘thiefin’ however.
There are many instances when crazy money management is caused by bad time management. Simple aids to memory have not been incorporated into the flow of activity so it becomes easy to miss timeframes and deadlines. The humble sticky note is an excellent aid to memory, to keep track of what needs updating. A whiteboard should be put up on the wall of the office manager and an assortment of whiteboard markers in various colours should be next to the board. Colour coding is a smart way to develop efficiency. Bad memory is unforgivable. It is wicked! Activity lists should be prepared, accomplished activities deleted daily and outstanding matters carried forward.
If the above happens then village budgets will be on time. Communication will be facilitated and current and urgent needs attended to. Three months’ waiting period for budget approval is not a cash flow problem in now prosperous Guyana. I cannot think that it is.
This is not an ethnic issue although it generates suffering for First Nations people. It is a managerial one. If the response, in the face of loss of support staff, is that the manager surrounds himself/herself with a clique of friends then there is real possibility of this backfiring. That will be messy! It will cause the further flourishing of inefficiencies.
Clearly there is need for intervention. Get a management consultant who can lead this entity into efficient practices. The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs needs Mervyn Williams on board. When Guyana is as wealthy as it now is it can afford to hire expertise to re-train its service personnel. It can attract committed and skilled personnel who are caring and vocal.
No manager can manage what he/she does not know. The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs needs an extensive permanent display of maps showing locations of all First Nations settlements. Distances from the centres of government and from social infrastructure should be readily known. It should be known what the distances are by boat, vehicle or plane. Possible costs of using such modes of transportation should be known. Submission of village videos should be encouraged. And so on, and so on. A manager must know what he/she manages or the management function becomes ‘spinning top in mud’.
Like Chalkdust I ‘shooting straight’.
First Nations, hold on! Yuh money comin’ and yuh tractors too. And a big apology!
So I say!
Gabriella Rodriguez
