Latest update February 7th, 2025 2:57 PM
Aug 29, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Kaieteur News – A letter writer in another newspaper has noted the privatisation of public services – from education, public transportation, health care, electricity generation and security to potable water. The privatisation of these public services is now so taken for granted that few focus on its wider implication: the indictment of the state.
The involuntary privatisation process started during the grim economic times. Those dreadful days, commencing in the mid-1970s included not only shortages and import restrictions but also the contraction of state employment and the concomitant and precipitous decline in public services provided by the government.
The most rapid decline occurred in the electricity sector. Blackouts, or power outages, became extended and a daily feature. These would last for on average six hours per day.
The decline in the water supply system followed soon after. Discoloured and unsafe water dripped through the taps and only during select hours during the day, leading many to have to walk miles in the countryside to fetch water in drums and buckets. That gave rise to the birth of the black tanks to store water and the use of water pumps to fill them from the main.
The public transport system collapsed as a result of mismanagement. The government owned big buses became part of the transportation sector graveyard.
Education went down the drain. The best of our teachers migrated to Caribbean islands and to Botswana rather than face the humiliation of being forced to sell sugar cakes in schools to supplement their meager salaries. Extra lessons compensated for the decline in educational standards.
Crime became so rampant and endemic that it ended the era of the watchman. Private security firms mushroomed to protect businesses and homes.
Private hospitals charged an arm and a leg for services. And later would expand rapidly in response to the shortcomings of the public health system.
Governments have changed but nothing much has been fundamentally altered. The public transportation system is now completely privately owned.
The black tanks used to store water are ubiquitous. And despite the billions spent on the water supply system very few can boast about receiving water through their taps on the second floor without the use of pressure pumps or overhead tanks. Around-the-clock supply of water is non-existent.
Extra-lessons have become institutionalised. Some teachers barely teach in the public classrooms because almost every one of their students attend their extra lessons. Little attention is being paid to ensuring that students receive their full instruction within the school system; without extra lessons, the entire educational system would collapse.
Blackouts have returned with a furious frequency. And while previous attempts to privatise the energy sector failed, a number of private firms, including this newspaper, are generating their own energy and doing so at a fraction of the tariffs charged by the Guyana Power and Light Inc. More firms are delinking from the national grid because of the high cost of energy.
And while the government has failed to bring the electricity sector under private ownership or management, all that is about to change. Expressions of interest have already been invited for the gas-to-shore project and for the plans to resuscitate the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project. Electricity generation is therefore going to be put exclusively into private hands sooner or later. It will become a cash-cow for the government’s friends and cronies.
The health sector is in a mess. If you are not rich, you have to settle for substandard health services offered by the government. Specialty services such as coronary health care are now being provided by private establishments located within public institutions at a cost which is prohibitive and outside of the reach of the poor.
Doctors employed in government facilities are moonlighting and ‘sunlighting’ at private institutions. You can get a free consultation from some of them at the public institution but surgery and other medical interventions is often recommended at their private practice at privately-owned hospitals.
Even nurses are now getting into the act. They pay home visits and provide home care during their off-hours and for a fee which is more than what they earn at their normal workplaces.
There are now more private security guards policemen and policewomen. And often private security guards are better armed and equipped than the police.
The privatisation of public services is a direct consequence of the failure of the state. It was not pursued as a deliberate policy but, in the main was an involuntary reaction to the decline in government services.
The privatisation of education began when a relative of Desmond Hoyte wanted to open a school. Since then other schools have emerged in response to the need of parents to get their children out of the deplorable public education system.
Private hospitals are now providing services which are not being provided satisfactorily by the public health system. In fact, a few years ago, if you were admitted to a public hospital and required an MRI, this had to be done privately. Not much has changed because those who influence public health policies have interests in private health care.
Guyana is said to be destined to be the next Dubai. But the signs of decadence in the delivery of public services are all around. The more we plan to change, the more we remain the same.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Feb 07, 2025
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