BY now, readers of this column should know that I am peeved at the way big banks in Guyana align their services in a way that negatively affects poorer class of people, to the extent that it would not be an exaggeration if the term oppression was used.

I verily believe that Republic Bank Limited (RBL) is the chief culprit.

During the course of the past week, a woman from Berbice, near Rosignol, called me to ask that I highlight her plight. She claimed she was providing a certain service informally; in order to take advantage of better opportunities, she registered her business and secured a contract. To access cheque payment received, she needed a business account. At the DeEdward branch of RBL, she was required to register and return on January 10th to open an account. When I heard this, it was a moment of disbelief and dumbfounded astonishment, I had to verify for myself. I called the DeEdward Branch, and this information was accurate. I opted to do a small survey; I called every single branch of RBL, and the waiting time was similar or longer.

When I got my first job as a teacher at Central High School in 1993, my first bank account was at the National Bank of Industry and Commerce, which later became RBL.

Back in 1993, it took just about two hours to open a new account. It is more than thirty years later, there has been exponential growth in technology, the availability of instant cross-border transactions and instant payment apps. It takes about five minutes to sign up and start major e-commerce transactions, and more than a thousand new ways to sign up to payment systems. But at RBL, it takes two months just to establish an account. Instead of advancing, we have regressed.

Things are worse at RBL than I’d previously thought. The Dark Ages are too much of an enlightened period to locate RBL. How on earth did we get here? I have a simple theory. The managers at RBL just do not care enough, because the worst parts of their services disproportionately affect the poorer class of people in this society, and it is possible they do not believe poor people are entitled to their dignity.

Above I mentioned a little survey; that wasn’t the end. I spoke to the staff at RBL and begged, on behalf of the lady, for them to accommodate the establishment of an account, so she can access her payment. She had three weeks to complete the contract, and she needed access to the advance money to execute the contract.

The staff said the rules of the bank prevented her from making such a decision. She offered a compromise; the customer should go to the bank every single day, and if, by chance, someone did not show up for their appointment, the bank “can squeeze her in”.

The second part of my survey involved a friend, who is a reasonably well-known middle-class man. He agreed to work on an experiment with me. He called a certain branch of RBL that had appointment dates till the end of January 2025. He spoke to a senior manager, who made an offer for him to visit her office, and she will establish the account for him, on the spot. This is a fact of life in Guyana; poor people suck salt.

Similarly, some big businesses in Guyana need to do better by their frontline employees, who, more often than not come from the poorer class of people. This past Thursday, around 08:30hrs, I visited the Alexander Street branch of Continental Group (CG) to purchase Torginol Paints. On arrival, the store was closed. I saw a small crowd milling around. I thought they were customers waiting to make purchases.

I soon came to find out that they were employees, waiting on the supervisor to arrive with the keys, so that they can go into the building to commence work. These poor people were standing in the street. This has to be wrong. CG is a major Caribbean corporation; they must be able to afford to build a small holding area with minimum washroom and seating facilities for employees who arrive early to work. The dignity of poor and working-class people seems to have little meaning in Guyana. It’s mind-bending to think that all these years, workers who arrive to work before the store opens must stand in the streets.

As a disclaimer, let me hasten to make it clear that I do not know the owners or managers of CG, and I have nothing personal against the company. In fact, because it’s listed as a Guyanese-owned company, I only support competitors when CG absolutely does not have the specific product available. I am also not advocating the withholding of patronage from CG. I have a voice and a forum, and I care about the plight of poor people. I am, therefore, using the voice of my keystrokes to simply request of CG to take better care to treat their employees, who are mostly working-class people, with dignity.

I went to work for the Ministry of Home Affairs (then Public Security) in November 2015. On my first day, as I walked through the gate, I saw security officers in deplorable conditions. The area they occupied was dark and dirty, the chairs had no cushion, the desk was dilapidated, and some of them had to sit in the scorching sun to receive visitors. I was extremely disturbed by this, and from my first day of work I remonstrated with the PS and Minister that better facilities must be constructed, and new furniture be bought. Poor people deserve to be treated with dignity.

Shortly after the AFC took office, I began to grow increasingly disheartened when I realised that the party leaders did not prioritise the needs of their poor supporters and, by extension, the poorer people in Guyana. When poor people who worked hard on the campaign visited the AFC office to enquire about basic services, opportunities and job placements, they were rebuffed, shunned, and outrightly ignored.

One prominent female minister even blurted out, “If we didn’t win, what would you have done?” I took major exception to that statement, and to their callous demeanor towards the poor.

I bombarded the AFC ministers of government at every forum; in meetings, in chat groups, and via email, about abandoning so many ardent campaigners not numbered in the middle-class. They did not budge; they remained steadfast, and stoutly resisted sensible proposals to take care of their working-class supporters. That was a pain in the chest that I carried with me the entire time the AFC occupied the seat of government.

I am deeply disturbed by the lack of conscientious embrace of the things needed to make poor people live with dignity. If party principals couldn’t, at the very least, care to put systems in place to improve the lives of their own confirmed and well-known poor activists and campaigners. They do not deserve to be in the seat of administration.