Dear Editor,
I have decided to pen this letter on moral standard and ethics from personal experience with people in Guyana, as well as those out of Guyana. The word ‘ethic’ can be defined as follows: ”a set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct.
The basic concepts and fundamental principles of decent human conduct includes study of universal values, such as the essential equality of all men and women, human or natural rights, obedience to the law of land, concern for health and safety and, increasingly, also for the natural environment.”
Let me begin with work ethic with the question: How many people in Guyana go to work on time? How many managers, supervisors, CEOs and clerks can you meet at 08:30h in their offices? I have visited several offices in Guyana and observed most workers going to work late and the bosses are never in office on time. I also observed that many workers just idle their day away collecting the Government’s money by false pretence, including their bosses.
If you call many offices to talk to a person in position they are always in a meeting or not in office or too busy to take your call. They never return a call or reply to your email, Facebook or WhatsApp messages etc. I have seen these activities in most of our offices in Guyana more than 35 years now.
Over two months ago, I saw a vacancy at the University of Guyana. I sent an application online I got a reply four days later stating that my application was received. After a month, I sent them an email of inquiry about my application.
They replied in a few days saying that my application is still under consideration. It’s over two months now… I sent them another inquiry in a week and got no reply.
Here is the highest academic institution of learning taking months to process a job application and don’t have the moral standard to write to me to say if my application was NOT accepted or to go for an interview. I may suffer a heart attack if they invite me for an interview.
My next experience is with the Legal Affairs Ministry. They wrote me a letter dated November 28, 2017, informing me that my ”Application of Appointment as Justice of Peace and Commissioner of Oaths to Affidavits is now at the Minister of State for final deliberation.”
That letter was only sent to me because I wrote about it several times in the newspapers questioning why my Police report took over two years to be sent to the Legal Affairs Ministry.
After several inquiries to the office of the Minister of State by calls, to date it’s about eight months now and I did not received an email, phone call nor letter pertaining to the status of my appointment. This procedure of my application started in 2003 since the People’s Progressive Party Administration about 15 years now and to date it would be better if I was told I am not appointed and reasons given. (I have done over six Police interviews in those years).
What I have discovered is that in Guyana is simple matters that can take a week or a month will take years because of incompetence and lack or morality and ethics.
Sometimes Managers and Ministers are in their offices but they refused to answer calls; they tell their secretaries to say they are not in office. What are they telling their secretaries in simple terms is ‘’to lie for them’. A gentleman told me in Brazil you can buy a property and get the paper work done the same day or less than a week. Here in Guyana, is months and years and the royal run around at the Guyana Revenue Authority for the compliance. In Trinidad you get your Birth Certificate same day; here is weeks and months.
I wrote a book and sent it to my publisher 01:35h I got a reply in five minutes. I sent Warwick University an email I got three replies in 10 minutes back and forth. How do we compare ourselves with these institutions abroad? Why can’t we be competent like them?
I haven’t seen the great change in Guyana since modern technology; all over you go is tons of old books and papers that should be replaced by CDs and flash drives. We don’t have much work ethics in Guyana.
We are always late and used terms like ”it’s better to be late than never” we go to work late, watch TV late, wake late, and laze around our jobs doing nothing and people have a real drinking problem; they are always drunk even on their jobs.
Most times, people are pushed into offices because of political affiliations and they get FAT salaries for doing absolutely nothing. We must ask ourselves many questions like how competent is this person holding this office? What did he/she ever run efficiently before? Are they honest? Are they punctual? Can they run this office? Do they have a stable family life? Are we very principled when it comes to keep our WORD AND TIME with people? You are a manager you invited an applicant for a job interview at 09:00h but you showed up at 12 noon. What example are you setting for that new applicant? NONE. You need to be fired.
Simple evaluation of people should not take us long. But people ”drag their feet” on their jobs even our schools have teachers who need teachings themselves because they are never in class and they can never complete the CXC exam syllabus on time.
Our character, morality, integrity, punctuality and speaking the truth at all times are keys to the foundation of a person of exemplary character and attitude. Mahatma Gandhi had this to say about character:
”In times to come people will not judge us by the creed we profess or the label we wear or the slogans we shout, but, by our work, industry, sacrifice, honesty and purity of character.”
It’s about time we as a people wake up to these truths about morality and ethics and inculcate more efficient work ethics.
Regards,
Reverend Gideon
Cecil