The views expressed herein are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of One News SVG. This writer requested anonymity.
Dear Dr. Godwin Friday,
I write this letter not as a member of any political party, nor as someone seeking political favour, but as a citizen and a member of the working class who has become increasingly frustrated with the way our public service system functions.
There was a time when the Prime Minister of this country felt more accessible to ordinary people. The previous administration, regardless of one’s political views, created a perception that if a citizen had exhausted the usual channels and still could not get a matter resolved, there was somewhere higher to turn. That accessibility mattered. It created a sense that someone was ultimately watching, listening and, when necessary, intervening.Today, many citizens do not feel that same connection. And when the highest level of leadership becomes inaccessible, something happens within the system: accountability weakens.
Public servants are left to operate without the sense that someone is monitoring the effectiveness of the service being provided. Files can sit. Letters can go unanswered. Matters can move from desk to desk, department to department and office to office, while citizens are expected to simply wait. But wait for how long? There is no way a simple matter should take a year to resolve.
Not a complex national policy. Not a matter requiring years of research. A simple matter that has already been properly submitted, documented and taken through the appropriate channels should not require a citizen to spend an entire year chasing government offices simply to receive a resolution. And this is where I believe the issue goes beyond bureaucracy. It becomes an issue of public service performance.
Government departments exist to serve the public. Public servants are employed with public resources to provide that service. Citizens should therefore not have to beg, plead, repeatedly call, write letters, make personal connections or somehow discover the “right person” just to have a legitimate matter addressed.
When the system is sticking, who is advocating for the ordinary working person? Who is asking why a citizen’s matter has been sitting unresolved? Who is asking why correspondence has gone unanswered? Who is asking why a department has failed to deliver within a reasonable period? And, perhaps most importantly, who is holding the public service accountable when it fails the very people it exists to serve?
Prime Minister, leadership cannot only be measured by the policies announced from the podium or the projects completed across the country. Leadership must also be felt by the citizen standing at the bottom of the system, trying to get a simple matter resolved.
The working class does not have unlimited time, money or connections. We work. We pay taxes. We raise families. We contribute to this country. When government systems fail us, we often have little choice but to continue knocking on doors until someone finally listens. That should not be the standard.
I am therefore appealing to you, not merely to make yourself more accessible, but to examine the mechanisms through which citizens can escalate unresolved matters and receive meaningful intervention. There needs to be a clear system of accountability where prolonged delays are questioned, ineffective service is addressed, and citizens have somewhere credible to turn when the normal channels have failed. We should not have to know someone to get something done. We should not have to be politically connected to be heard. And we certainly should not have to wait a year for a simple matter to move through a system that we, the public, ultimately fund.
Sir, the people are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for the system to work. And when it does not, we need to know that someone at the highest level of government cares enough to ask why.
Respectfully,
A concerned citizen and member of the working class
END
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