Mumbling and grumbling
Over the years, there has been plenty mumbling and grumbling about the quality of government services among the general public. One of the agencies to which this writer is connected has received its fair share of criticism for the quality of customer service that it provides to the taxpaying public. But the cause for criticism of the Guyana Revenue Authority might be symptomatic of a wider problem in the public sector as a whole. The issue of poor customer service is something that was inherited by the current administration and one that it aspires to solve. The magnitude of the problem only comes together when several persons voice the same complaint repeatedly. But the magnitude of the problem could be understood another way. It can be done by looking at the problem through the prism of productivity and economic efficiency variables. This article seeks to examine some productivity and economic efficiency variables as they relate to the public administration service of the central government over the period 2006 to 2014. Given the scope of its coverage, the information will be presented over a two-week span.
Stewardship
An inquiry of this nature is important because the Guyana economy exhibited consistent growth from 2007 to 2013. Yet, that success has not translated into significant changes in the quality of life of citizens and any evidence of confidence in the government services during the period of review. The economic success, despite being limited in its distribution, is often attributed to good stewardship by the government and not to anything or anyone else despite the existence of a private sector. Indeed,