Dear Editor,
There is an old saying in Guyana when people show up late for a function, job interview, appointments: “Better late than never,” and they joke about another Creole adage they use, “This is Guyanese time.” From my personal observation and experience, I see more than 75% of our Guyanese people going late to work, church, functions, etc. Lateness has become a way of life for most. We are the most indisciplined people in the Western hemisphere when it comes to keeping time and keeping our word.
As a Reverend, I note with interest when we begin our church service on Sundays—and in the case of many other churches I have been to—that most churchgoers will arrive thirty minutes to one hour late. Though myself and other pastors and priests have spoken to church members about this, it has fallen on deaf ears. I have seen even Presidents, Prime Ministers and most ministers in our government attending functions more than one hour late, and this has become a norm.
True leadership is about leading others by example, so I can say our leaders in parliament are setting a very bad example for this nation to follow.
Not very long ago, I had an appointment to meet a government minister at 4 pm at his office. I arrived there at 3.30 pm. I waited for 75 minutes then the Minister arrived with a big apology and excuse with a sleazy smile on his face. Then he took another 30 minutes to drink coffee and settle into his chair. I had arrived to this impudent minister’s office office 30 minutes before time, and I waited a total of 135 minutes before I could talk to him. On another occasion, I visited another minister with a team of folks from my neighbourhood. We arrived at 5 am to get a number; we got number 2. The Minister came two hours late to his office. When we entered he chased out the others and said he would speak to me alone. He read three newspapers, then chatted on Facebook, then made calls; he took about 40 minutes before listening to me then referred me to another office. I was really consternated at the arrogance of our ministers as if they are demi-gods.
These are the incompetent people this nation voted into power. I wasted several hours just to have a brief audience with two arrogant ministers in government. The list of those guilty of lateness can be seen at the police stations, the GPOC, Ministry of Home Affairs, Deeds Registry, GRA and almost all the government offices. Prominent folks in offices attend work late or just idle the day away. Long lines for hours going into days have become the order of the day. The hospitals are worse; doctors arrive at work 3-4 hours late and so do nurses. I saw a man die at the public hospital in Georgetown while waiting for the doctor’s hand.
In most government schools teachers go to work late. My son and other children tell me that their teachers are absent for weeks going into months. They are at UG and they work a few hours a week collecting a full salary under false pretenses. I have had experiences where I have gone to an office for a document, and after waiting 3 hours in a congested line I am told: “the boss is not in office to sign the document, please come back.” Two hours later the boss can’t be found. Then the hours turn into days and months – and even years until someone is offered a bribe.
Lateness is very rampant at the courts where some judges and magistrates do not show up or are two hours late. In my opinion a lot of people I see in high office starting with parliament should be sacked or fired or be placed on discipline without pay. We have been faced with a serious political disease since the Burnham era. We install any number of misfits in office because they are our political ‘yes men’ and ‘yes women’ who gathered votes for our parties. However we fail to realise that we are putting a square peg in a round hole and half of those who have risen to power are destroying Guyana, not building it. In short, we have the blind leading the blind. No wonder millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted daily. The reason why we have people always showing up late for work is because they have never worked all their lives, so they have no work ethic and respect for our citizens’ time. Many people in high office can’t run a cake shop, so how will they govern a ministry?
I am flabbergasted when I see with my own eyes that Guyanese can sleep overnight at the US embassy and passport office to be on time; they are hours early at chutney shows and cricket and now football to drink and sport, but they are always late for church, work, functions etc. Our people go early to weddings, discos, Jamzone, banks and Western Union to uplift money. Then why is it these same people go to work late? It’s because our government doesn’t have a protocol for them to follow and they give none to their ministries. Even if they have rules these are broken by staff daily, beginning with the boss.
It’s about time we re-evaluated our bad attitudes and changed for a better Guyana. Procrastination is the thief of time. If a person works five days a week and goes to work 30 minutes late daily he will be 600 minutes late per month, but gets paid for hours he hasn’t worked. If we multiply 600 by 12 it’s 7,200 minutes late per year – a total of 120 hours late. Just imagine if we have ten staff going to work 30 minutes late daily. Our ministers can bark as much they want at the former US Ambassador, but they are yet to learn to respect time from the Americans and British.
“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” ~ M Scott Peck
This quotation I believe should help us to evaluate our lives, so we can change our attitudes and character to build a better nation and set a greater example for this new generation to follow.
Yours faithfully,
Rev Gideon Cecil
