Dear Editor,
In your May 11, 2009 edition, you reported that the Auditor General’s Office is heading in the direction of performance audits that examine how wisely government money is being spent. The scope of these audits appears to be very narrow. Unless there is massive waste suspected, these audits, although useful in identifying inefficiencies, can only identify deviations from some standard which the report terms as value for money (VFM). They focus on the utilization of government resources and not on the more important measure of the effect of government practices on the efficiency of the economy as a whole, viz the productivity of labour and the size of the country’s Gross National Product (GNP). If they do reveal anything, the audit results will be contentious with little value.
What is of a higher priority in Guyana is a performance standard with respect to the general public accessing services or paying bills at government offices. A simple standard that comes to mind is that no one should have to travel further than the nearest town and wait more than 15 minutes to access or pay for a specific government service. Such a standard will force government managers to be innovative. For example, some services can be outsourced to the underutilized Post Office or commercial banks as is currently done with utility payments. Others can be accessed through the mail or on the internet instead of trekking to a government location. Some managers would realize that rotating employees lunch breaks so that service is not interrupted is also a means to meet the standard. Those managers unable to innovate are underperforming and should be retrained or relieved of their managerial duties.
When one considers the long lines of people waiting at the licensing office, the registrar’s office or any other government facility, and the length of time the wait entails (I have spent six hours already on four unsuccessful attempts to renew my vehicle’s 2009 licence) one gets a feel of the damage this is causing to the country’s GNP. This is so because when one is standing in line, one is not producing and thus adding to the GNP. In addition, the unnecessary travel required from the many return trips also saps GNP and adds to the country’s huge oil bill and the consequential cost-of-living increases. From an auditing standpoint, the value of such a performance standard is its measurability and objectivity. An auditor can quite easily determine the travel distance and time spent in line of a sample of people waiting to access government services. There is no contention here. Other performance standards that need to be addressed are those dealing with quality of the service, where government employees’ attitudes and professionalism are evaluated.
Finally, speaking of standards, please get rid of those archaic dress code requirements to enter public buildings. Although dress codes are appropriate at formal cultural events such as those sponsored by the National Cultural Centre and for visits to the offices of high-ranking officials, they are not appropriate for entering a public place to pay a bill (I was denied entry to the licensing office due to my short-pants attire). The climate necessitates comfortable clothing and government should not impose contrary standards on its citizens. These requirements are only found in government, further demonstrating the culture there of ‘same old, same old.’
Yours faithfully,
Louis Holder
