Monday, March 14, 2011

One Step forward, Three Steps Back

Stopped off at the Licensing Office to renew my Driver's Licence at the urging of my Phone (may still get up to par with Technology at some point!).
Was pleasantly surprised to find a helpful and pleasant Policewoman handing out forms and directing people at the door, on a wet Monday morning! Was even more astonished to find out that I was called to the Counter in the time it took to fill in the said form- all less than ten minutes-quite different from the confusion three years ago. Never thought I'd be saying this but - Kudos to GRA (Guyana Revenue Authority for you foreign readers)!! Then the usual Guyanese thing emerged-- the wait on the bench for them to presumabably find the previous papers and then the wait for the papers to go down to the Cashier- all in the freezing cold as the Air Conditioners were working full blast in an already cold day-- they really ought to adjust the thermostat in this weather! Was out with my renewed Licence in just over an hour.
I note the Fee is the same as it has always been, the cost of everything has gone up, the running costs are certainly more-- it needs to be increased by at least 2.5 times and also they ought to lash it up in foreign drivers seeking to drive in Guyana because the fee is so ridiculous it doesn't even cover running costs-- $10,000 seems like a good amount to start off with!

So opened the Papers to read that the US consultant at OP (Office of the President) was offered a salary of U$100,000 which surprised even him, and I wondered - for THAT salary couldn't they have found an able Guyanese to do the job?? I'm sure there must be as it seems the American guy, who has since left the country, said they basically scrapped his work and restarted back from scratch-- mmm, definitely coulda pay a local to do THAT! There has been a worrying trend with the Jagdeo regime of having foreigners walk the Corridors of Power at OP, and surely THAT if nothing else should alert him to the crisis in Education if after 10 years in Government he cannnot produce able and capable people to work in his office, necessitating perceived-better-educated foreigners to work there? Could it be, almost like Libya, the leader being fearful and mistrustful of his own people?
Of course this led Kwame to remark on Mark, which I grudgingly agree with...'I do not consider Mark Benschop as a credible source... he is not a credible source for anything', a case of Kettle calling the Pot black!

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