Dear Editor,
In a recent letter in the press from the Minister of Education it was stated that the shift to the distribution of the school grant instead of using centralized purchasing of school supplies was due to a poor procurement process that resulted in supplies arriving late to the schools. Unfortunately, the subject Minister did not address fixing the root cause of the problem with the procurement process, but has instead chosen to take the inefficient approach of having teachers spend their time purchasing. It would be in everyone’s best interest to have the real problem resolved. Is it timing, is it a supplier issue, is it a lack of coordination, etc? Truly fixing the problems faced by the government will lead to a marked improvement in the services they provide. We must avoid creating work arounds that can result in increased cost, lower productivity and increased frustration for those involved.
The current issues with GPL is another clear example of where the root cause of a problem has not been addressed. Forecasting demand for electricity is clearly part of the reason for the outages. The new hotels and increased investment in infrastructure surely will result in additional demand that will have to be a part of the overall national development plan. A thorough strategic plan accounts for the impact on all stakeholders, including suppliers who provide key inputs to support the forecasted economic growth. Using the terminology and not truly utilizing the process which it speaks to is a disservice not only to those who try to appear as though they know what they are doing, when they really do not, but it is also a disservice to the nation. The leadership of the GPL should be more forthcoming on how they plan to prevent these outages from reoccurring. They should also be clear as to why this was overlooked and what has changed in their forecasting process to correct the root cause of the problem.
The labour shortage that has resulted due to the aggressive development plan being pursued by the current administration is yet another example of where the planning process has a significant gap, and the list goes on. Spending large sums of money beyond what the country can absorb due to limitations in resources (human, power, etc.,) does not result in an effective and efficient use of those funds. Going forward, we must set realistic targets and expectations as a government. While working at a multinational corporation which was pursuing very aggressive growth, we use to always remind ourselves that our growth is limited by how fast we can grow the talent that supports the corporation. There are many very talented Guyanese that are helping other nations in their development efforts. The government would be wise to tap into that talent pool in support of their endeavours.
CRG once again extends an offer of assistance to the Government to help move the nation’s development forward. CRG also encourages the current administration to relook at their planning process and avoid using band aid solutions, when corrective and preventative measures can be implemented to fix the root causes of the problems. We must shift our thinking from that of a third world approach to one that is more in line with the first world trajectory that the country is pursuing.
Sincerely,
Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of
Guyana
