Dear Editor,
A few days ago, I visited the GT&T office at Church Street to pay my phone and internet bills. At 9am I saw a very long line outside the office that was near the road. I joined the line and entered the building after half an hour. When I entered the building at 9.30 am I observed only three staff members working but I counted eight booths.
One staff member was dealing only with old age pensioners in a separate line while only two were dealing with the other customers. Five booths were empty while many staff members could be seen walking about the office ‘gaffing’ and eating chips. So early in the morning GT&T staff have no regard for the citizens of this country. I have many questions but will just list just two:
Why were only three members of staff working when there are eight booths?
Why do they have no respect for citizens waiting hours in a line which is not moving.
After spending about one hour in the line, two more staff left and left only one. I note with interest that these tellers or cashiers seem to work for twenty minutes then put a notice reading “Next wicket please.’’
I spent two hours just to pay a phone and internet bill. GT&T’s slogan reads ‘’GT&T getting better all the time,’’ but they are getting worse all the time. Whenever I call to report a fault or internet problem, I am greeted by a voice mail to the effect, ‘’All our customer service staff are busy now, please hold the line or try to call later.’’ It’s either they are short of staff or just lazy. In this day and age why are they using voice mail for customers? If you receive an answer after days of trying, the person on the line behaves uncivilly. We haven’t progressed very far as a nation.
After I finished at GT&T, I visited the GBTI bank at Water Street. I joined a line with only ten persons and noticed only two staff working from over eight booths. I spent another hour and fifteen minutes in a line of just ten people, many of whom were fussing or even ‘cussing.’ The bank supervisors have no regard for customers standing for the whole half day in an unmoving line. One man complained he went to withdraw over a million dollars but they were now asking him for two forms of identification which he didn’t have. When an account is opened these bank folks don’t integrate all these laws, but to get your own money they have more laws than parliament.
Why will the bank accept a national identification card to open an account but need two or three IDs to withdraw a large amount of cash? Our national ID card is good enough, so why try to confuse customers?
I eventually went to GPO to apply for some birth certificates, I saw a line of old age pensioners touching the road. My concerns here were many when I saw very few staff working and old people having to stand for hours to get their pensions. Could not a better system be put in place where several staff could pay these pensioners at a rapid pace? But who in God’s name is responsible for all these long lines everywhere in most offices? All of this incompetence is caused by a lack of vision and proper administration.
I joined the line to apply for some birth certificates ‒ a line of about 40 people. That line has only one booth with one lady working. She has to sell forms, marriage packages, take in applications for birth, death and marriage certificates and hand write all the receipts for customers.
Why is only one person allowed to do four persons’ jobs in an unmoving line where I took about an hour and a half? It’s about time the relevant authorities get up from their soft chairs and get these long lines moving in every office in Guyana because it represents a blatant disregard for the citizens of this nation.
From the banks, the GRA, the Deeds Registry, Immigration, the GPOC, GT&T, GPL, GWI, etc, long lines have become a real heartache for our citizens of this country, and those in authority turn a blind eye to it. I note with interest that if a parliamentarian, police, doctors, lawyers, etc, should come to do business in some offices they won’t join the line; they walk past everyone and get their papers sorted out. So they use their offices to exploit a situation to get things done faster but are careless about the ordinary citizen. Real leadership is when we can put others before ourselves.
We are about to commemorate 47 years of Independence in a few days. We should ask ourselves some very serious questions as a nation. What have we achieved after 47 years of Independence when we compare ourselves with the wider Caribbean and the rest of the world? Many will go on television and say we have achieved a lot, but they are deceived if they are really honest with themselves.
After 20 years in office by our present administration we still have blackouts every day, Internet failures, garbage all over Georgetown, potholes on many roads, poor health facilities at the hospitals, poor people waiting the whole day just for a few tablets, poor drainage and irrigation, blocked drains and canals, massive migration every day, poor sea defences that cannot be repaired ‒ and the long dismal list goes on.
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer all because of poor vision to govern and administrate.
It’s about time our leaders stop fighting in parliament and get a better vision for a contemporary and prosperous Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Rev Gideon Cecil
