Delroy Chuck
THE STORY of human progress is about making life better, happier and more enjoyable. Inventors, scientists, artists and the geniuses over the ages have created something worthwhile to benefit and lift humanity. Virtually all the household amenities, such as air conditioning units, television, compu-ters, cellular phones, piped water, electricity and the electronic gadgets that we take for granted, were probably not even imagined a hundred years ago.
In the mid-80s, when I first watched the French Open via satellite dish, I marvelled at how small the world had become. The personal computer made me ask how did we ever do without it? Can we even imagine what an office would be if we still had to rely on the typewriter? The fax machine was easily one of the best machines ever invented until the Internet came along. Email is now the norm and the wonderful fax machine will soon be obsolete.
We are not likely, I believe, to see new and different products continuously coming along. What we will see for many more decades are just improvements on what we already have. There will be better and smarter motor cars, computers and cellular phones but are we likely to see personal helicopters replacing motor cars as the ordinary and daily means of transportation? In the global marketplace, competition will force companies and countries to provide cheaper and better products to make life happier, wiser and more meaningful.
Jamaica produces little to sell to the rest of the world and, thus, is unlikely to be a part of the competition for any major produce. For us to survive in the hostile global marketplace, we have to become a major service provider, even though nothing suggests we have even started to think about how we could. India is now growing at eight per cent annually, primarily through the provision of computer service and telemarketing to North America and Europe. India is not producing goods; it is producing cheaper and better service. Have we even imagined Jamaica being the cruise line hub for the millions of visitors who travel on the high seas in the Western hemisphere? Just imagine the complementary services providing thousands of jobs that would be needed to service such a hub. Interestingly, Singapore, one-fifteenth the size of Jamaica, deci-ded early to make its international airport the hub for planes travelling across Southern Asia and, in spite of stiff competition from Hong Kong and Shanghai, is still today the preferred stop for most airlines.
Even while we think of the bigger picture when Jamaica can be a major service centre for something, anything, we need to get the small pictures right. In government offices, hospitals, professional offices, food stores, banks, etc., the service provided is simply slow and downright abysmal. The customers' and clients' time and comfort are not the priority. Long lines and inordinate delays are still part and parcel of the poor service provided.
If Jamaicans are to improve their quality of life, then quicker, cheaper and better service must be provided everywhere. Yet, we, the citizens, must demand quality service as a right and withdraw support, wherever possible, when service is deficient.
Better government service, I argued in my sectoral presentation to Parliament last Tuesday, May 30, will reduce wastage, improve productivity and eliminate the impediments to wealth creation and economic activity. The ultimate burden, I postulated, is on our government agencies to lead and provide better service for our citizens to start enjoying first-world living.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney at law and Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at delchuck@hotmail.com.
