Dear Editor,
For the past 6 months and as recently as last month I made several complaints to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) clerk here at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast, that my internet is very slow and that the telephone is not working. She took my complaints and promised to inform the manager and technicians. Whether she passed the complaints on to them or not, I do not know; what I know for a fact is that I am paying for a service with VAT of 14% that I am not receiving at the moment. I am not the only one who is suffering here on the Essequibo Coast with this slow motion service; numerous customers have the same problems and we do not know if it will ever get better.
This thing can be really frustrating, especially when I have to submit my broadcast relay report to my bosses at National Communications Network Inc (NCN) in Georgetown for their 8 am meeting every Friday. My printer and scanner cannot work because the internet is either slow or down, so I am unable to send it in time. Worst of all I cannot use the telephone to communicate the report because that too is down. It also hampers my payment for the employees who are working here at the branch. The only service which is available is the GTT cell phone which gives me the impression that the company is only thinking of making money from us by buying their cards.
To date no one from the branch at Anna Regina has found the time to come and look at my problems, although the company is located just 100 yards from my house here in Cotton Field. After the manager and the technicians failed to address my problems, I decided to call the Residential Manager in Georgetown and told her that I am not receiving the services that I am paying for. She promised to look into my matter immediately but nothing has happened since I spoke to her.
If you go to any government or private office, especially at Banks, GRA, GWI, GPL, NIS, etc, etc, you cannot do any business; their systems are down and you have to go home no matter how near or far you live, and your entire day is wasted. I heard of sad stories about people coming from as far as Supenaam ,Charity and the Pomeroon river, sitting in offices without food, hoping that the internet would be restored and the system would be up so they can do their transactions, only to be told to come back another day.
I can only imagine the frustration and time loss which a big company like Caricom Rice Mills Ltd, and other rice millers which employ hundreds of workers and do business overseas are going through. I think it is time the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce spoke out against GTT’s rotten service and the ripping off of customers.
If you want something to work in Guyana, you have to have a strong and united voice. You are not effective when you speak alone. GTT is vulnerable, the system is moving at a snail’s pace, there is no technological development taking place throughout the country and they are not relentless about invention. GTT needs customers’ confidence to survive.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan