Tick, tick, tick … Jamaicans lose valuable production hours standing in line

The Government presented its Going for Growth and Development agenda
during the recently concluded Budget Debate, but it will be a
Herculean task reaching the targets set while standing in line, waiting
to get service. Yet, that's what we do every day. No problem man, just
stand in line ... and wait ... at the banks, at the hospitals, at the
health centres ... everywhere. While Rome burns ...


Jodi-Ann Gilpin, Gleaner Writer

THE BANKS

People streamed in gradually at the National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Half-Way Tree, one of the Corporate Area institutions our news team visited on February 7, in a bid to determine the production time being lost while waiting in line.

After arriving at approximately 10:30 a.m., I sat and observed the proceedings. Shortly afterwards, 45-year-old Vanessa Beckford came over and sat beside me. Without allowing an exchange of words, she started expressing the disgust she felt having to wait in line, commenting on how time-consuming it was to conduct the smallest transaction.

"Bwoy, it's a heartache fi come here so sometimes. One time I came here after 10 and didn't get through till minutes after two, and when me leave my little business for so long, what is going to happen?" she asked. Her aunt, who didn't want to give her name, echoed similar sentiments, saying that her experience at banks had been nothing but awful.

"All I wanted was a CD (certificate of deposit) to be written up so that I could transfer some funds, and I had to wait in the line for half an hour, only to be told I'm in the wrong line and then there are over 50 persons in the line, which is going to take another hour," the aunt explained.

"I have a flight in the morning, and I am going to have to come back here at 8:30 tomorrow because I have some other transactions that must be done today, so I'm only hoping that when I come tomorrow, I won't miss my flight. This is just annoying!" she said with disgust.

Shane Green, another customer at the bank, told The Gleaner, "This morning wasn't so bad, but I still waited for an hour, and I still had to come back (for another 45 minutes) because I left a document. Last week I was at the door for over two hours, and then I had to wait another hour before I got through. I have to mentally prepare myself before I come here. It's really disgusting and time-consuming!" he said.

At the Bank of Nova Scotia's headquarters in downtown Kingston, the lines were at a standstill as persons waited anxiously to get through. One customer said that urgent attention needed to be placed on improving the efficiency of these institutions.

"Is about an hour I stand up in there, but I get so use to it, but a whole heap a time mi waste by just standing inna line, and something have to be done about it, but more time, all two hours mi stand up in dere," he said.

EMPLOYERS

General manager of Rainforest Seafoods in Jamaica, Ernest Grant, said that the long wait in lines to get service does have an impact on production.

Describing the situation as "off-putting", he said, "I have indeed had that situation where our staff members have had to go to some of these agencies to conduct various transactions, and even when they have made appointments, they still end up waiting for a long time even for the appointment, and it does hurt production," said Grant.

"It's a ripple effect because persons will be away for a longer time than expected and our production levels are reduced and our service levels are reduced also," he said.

He also pointed that in some cases, serious actions have had to be taken against employees.

Andrew Jackson, manager of Jetcon Cars in Kingston, pointed out that it is a frequent occurrence that hampers productivity.

"It happens all the time, especially at the end of the month when you have to go the banks, or the tax office. It is absolutely crazy, and it does take away productive time," he said.

In the meantime, Brian Pengelley, head of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association, told The Gleaner that while it did affect productivity, the institutions sometimes found it hard to provide workers.

"Having to wait in these lines would definitely impact productivity. I honestly can't say something concrete on it because the variations would be so much different by companies, but it does make sense that having to wait so long will impact any business," he said.

"When you look at it from the side of the financial institutions and these other agencies, they would look back and say we can't provide staff for up to two hours of a day, which is the peak time, so I can see their side. It does have an impact and we have to find a way to balance it," he declared.

HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CENTRES

The tales out of the hospitals and health centres around the Corporate Area are as long as the lines and the faces in these places. At the Kingston Public Hospital, Anthony Barrett pointed out that he arrived there at 7 o'clock the morning before The Gleaner team arrived. He didn't leave until four in the evening - a total of nine hours in a single day, seeking medical attention at Jamaica's high seat of medicine.

"It look like once you poor, you have to go through dem tings here. Mi suffer yesterday because I was really ill and mi waste one whole day. Mi nuh tink mi did really have to take so long, but a guess a so poor people have to juggle it," said a sorrowful Barrett.

The following Monday, which was February 11, The Gleaner went to the Rollington Town Health Centre when it was time for mothers to get their babies checked. The faces of the mothers mirrored their distress. Before the Gleaner team approached one mother, she blurted out her frustration, saying, "Hurry and say what you have to say because I am very miserable and drained right now!" She was holding her two-month-old baby in her arms.

"This is one whole working day and I have been here from before seven this morning and now it's after three and I'm just getting through. When I start going back to work, I will have to sit with my spouse and see how best we can make other arrangements, but I won't be able to manage this," she said.

- The times represent what we saw and what was reported to us by the persons interviewed.