There is an opportunity to overcome some poor decisions

Mar 26, 2018 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
Having worked in the upper echelons of companies with over 100 years of experience, one of which has over 300 years, it is surprising at how fast the administrations current and previous of our country is at presuming that they have all the answers.
These companies I am referring to have unparalleled size and experience vs. our economy. One is close to 17 times that of our economy on an annual basis, and yet these companies seek out advice and guidance for their sustainable growth.
It is unfortunate how a few inexperienced ministers in key positions can quickly have a negative long term impact on the future of such a beautiful and promising nation. Slowing down and taking the necessary steps to do things well is always the best approach when you are still gaining the experience you need to be effective.
This approach would have served the Sugar, Fish, Rice and Oil Industries well. However there appears that a window of opportunity to salvage the outcome of poor decision making still exists and it is important that the correct people are involved to ensure the job is done properly.
We must not continue to over leverage individuals with little business and industrial experience especially if lacking it on a global scale. Learning by doing is quite ok for small and medium sized local entities however, when dealing at the national level you are now in the international arena where only the best rise above the others. This means being the best in multiple dimensions and the internal workings of the nation must be stellar to compete effectively. It is evident that there is still a lot to do within many of the ministries and urgent attention needs to be given to these ministries.
Avoiding an arrogant disposition and an aggressive adversarial stance should be the order of the day on both sides of parliament. Keeping such a divided house has allowed both foreign and local predatory companies to take advantage of our limited resources, as evident in some of the agreements that have been pursued thus far.
It still amazes me that a country of this scale is still prone to overspending, high levels of risk taking and clear disregard for good long term actions that not only support but also foster growth for many generations to come.
There is clearly a talent deficit that none of the administrations have been able to address. Some may say that this is due to a desire to pillage, and others may say that this is due primarily to self-preservation and other positive thinkers are of the hope that it is just due to a lack of proper guidance and training. Thus spending of taxpayers’ money to develop and foster talent growth in our economy continues to be a top priority as reflected in the national budget of today.
There are several key areas that need to be clearly addressed and ethically embraced to correct and prevent further pursuing a self-destructive path being taken by our government, whether they are from one of the major political parties or a new and upcoming one.
These are the following:
1. The clear reaffirmation and promotion of high moral standards and societal values such as Integrity, Respect, Top Quality, Loyalty to our Country and Unbiased Cooperation.
We are supposed to be the “Cooperative” Republic of Guyana and this comrades is the basis upon which our local, regional and central government have been structured. Some in our society dislike the word comrade, yet when it comes to the sharing of national wealth there is an expectation of a socialist approach, that being an equality in the share of the riches.
We must take sharing with cooperation and this should be done with a spirit of camaraderie (that being defined as a spirit of friendship and community within a group). Our health care system and education system is also rooted in this approach and as a result even the less fortunate amongst us have benefited from the limited resources we have in our country.
All of our presidents with one exception has been able to grow and develop from their youth as a result of our limited resources being available to the least amongst us.
2. Talent development of our limited human resources and their utilization regardless of political affiliation, once the first criterion is met (that being Integrity, Respect, Top Quality, Loyalty to our Country and Unbiased Cooperation) continues to need to be a top priority to be both pursued and embraced within all levels of society and within our ministries and key institutions.
3. Being content with the good in the life we have and preventing greed for riches that destroy the environment and the sustainability of our land must be paramount and clearly evident in how decisions are being made throughout the various levels of government.
Repeating the bad habits of those from the past is not in the spirit of continual improvement and should not be the expectation of a growing nation. At the time of Independence Guyana was in its infancy, we should have learned to correct those mistakes over the years. As the Guyanese saying goes “better late than never”.
This is the spirit in which we must approach our daily undertakings and decision making when looking toward the future and our sustainable development.
So my friends it is never too late to have a serious discussion with our business partners and suppliers concerning opportunities to improve. Without our land being healthy it will become more expensive and difficult to maintain personal good health and without good health there are limited opportunities to add to the good in the life we have.
The USA is an example of this, where the cost of health care dominates their budget, which they continue to struggle to correct. We as a Nation are at a major decision point in our history and have an opportunity to chart a different path for our future. Do not let fools gold and foolish decisions take us down the wrong road.
Best regards,
Jamil Changlee

---

---