THE British left a tradition of impeccable codes of conduct and work ethic in a public service moulded after their own patterns; but decades after Guyana attained independence from Great Britain the attitudes and malaise in that sector have degraded to such an extent that efficiency and attention to a work ethic have become exceptions in a new normal.The former Government, which tried to curb the ills in the sector but found its efforts stymied by labour unions, had to resort to employing persons in contractual capacities in order to get their work done in an efficient and timely manner.
However, those seeking essential services from employees of State institutions almost always complain that if no reward – in cash or kind, is forthcoming, then it is like trying to get past a brick wall to get any kind of service.
This trend has been endemic for decades, to the extent where the ordinary Guyanese is resigned to paying a ‘raise’ in order to get their business tended to in a timely and effective manner.
Health workers moonlight at private institutions and render the minimum of work in their areas of employment with the state, where they enjoy remuneration and benefits with incremental annual increases. The complaints from the public are endless but the complainants almost never receive redress.
One young man who was bedridden for a while after a horrific accident was pelted with a plastic soda bottle by a nurse when he interrupted her chat on her phone with his insistent requests for a bedpan. The terrible stories of newborn babies and mothers dying senselessly during delivery because of carelessness or inattention by hospital personnel; as well as stories of malpractice and other factors render healthcare delivery in State institutions a thing feared by the general public.
One wonders what the nursing school teaches, because the standards of today in healthcare delivery are far from the standards of yesteryear that are still being practiced in Great Britain. Long ago nurses had patients bathed, their beds made, their medication issued, and the wards spick and span before the visit of doctors and relatives.
Today if a patient does not have a relative to take care of his / her needs then that patient is many times left to suffer. Relatives are not trained in patient care and can cause unnecessary hurt and retrogression in the patient’s recovery.
The ills plaguing the security sector have been expounded on ad nauseum, with no end in sight.
Students in public schools complain of many days going to school and being left on their own devices because teachers – on one pretext or another either do not turn up for classes; or are a no-show until nearly the end of the period.
The malaise is extensive and leaves a public in utter contempt and frustration. Many public servants turn up to work at their own whims and fancies, then proceed to the washroom to fix make-up before regaling fellow staff members about the latest gossip, the last episode of a television programme, or their own and the activities of others. Only then – probably in the mid-morning or nearing lunchtime, do they turn their attention to their work; and woe betides anyone who insists on engaging their attention before they are ready.
The general attitude of State employees to those whom they have to serve is that of arrogance and haughtiness, especially in the rural areas, which cows into silence the simple country folk.
Essential services like water sector employees cannot be accessed after three o’clock on Friday until the following week. They are completely inaccessible during weekends and on public holidays, which sometimes extend for long weekends.
One householder on the East Bank returned home last Thursday afternoon from a trip out of town to find her yard inundated with water from the pipes leading to her meter having become loose. This was GWIs water being wasted, apart from the inconvenience of not getting any water through her taps. Early on Friday morning she reported the loose pipe to the Peter’s Hall branch.
She only got through after trying several times on the three numbers provided. It seems inconceivable that such lengthy reports were being made that tied up three telephone lines for such a long time. A member of staff promised to send a crew to effect repairs. When no-one turned up the woman called the office again at about 14:30 hrs but the phones remained engaged, with one going to voicemail; then after 15:00 hrs the phones rang out. All during the weekend the water was gushing and the woman had to depend on bottled water for household use and ablutions.
The aberrations in the public service have been like a plague for decades.
If the newly-installed Government is to succeed in managing the business of the State then they have to devise ways and means to curb and eventually eradicate the malaise and corruption in the Public Service.