Responsibility word made from colorful plastic letters on white background

We must take responsibility for our actions

Introduction

Holding individuals accountable for their actions is something that we really need to address in the Turks and Caicos. Many times, when we hear the word accountability, we think primarily about the parliamentarians. While it is true that that we must hold them accountable, we must also hold the workforce in both the private and public sectors accountable. I am convinced if we hold individuals accountable for their actions, governments and employees will perform better resulting in satisfied customers and a better workforce.

Who is holding who accountable?

Two weeks ago, I presented a medical certificate to the Labour Department for the processing of a work permit for a teacher. I did a follow up on the status of the application and to my surprise, I was told that the medical certificate is missing. I was puzzled because I knew I submitted the medical certificate. You know when I presented the medical certificate, I asked the officer can I get something as proof that I provided the certificate and the officer said I didn’t need anything. I found this to be unacceptable and I told the supervisor that. Who is holding individuals accountable for their actions? Why do customers have to spend time in the queue to obtain and resubmit the same documents? Until we start holding individuals accountable for their actions, these inefficiencies will continue to exist and corruption kicks in. Some people will accept this type of behaviour as the status quo. We must not accept this. I met a lady who had a similar situation like me, and she said she was told, she better be quiet because she is not from here. Now the example I gave is just one scenario as there are many more examples of the lack of accountability in our country. Why is this being allowed? Is it because everybody knows everybody, and no one wants to rock the boat? Is it because the leaders are doing the same thing and the employees are just following their leaders?

Speaking about leaders, who is holding our parliamentarians accountable? Are we so loyal to these political parties that we afraid to hold them accountable? One of the reasons, our country is in the state it is, is because we are not holding our parliamentarians accountable. We need to stop being afraid. We need to be loyal to our country and not stop being loyal to these political parties. Call out the politicians for their actions. Call them out for their non actions too. Remind them about the promises that were made. One way I hold the politicians accountable is through my weekly writings. If more of us write and speak out on a consistent basis, I believe politicians will do better and our country will be better.

In 2019, a police plane was bought for $2.7million but it was not the right kind of plane that was needed for the police. Apparently, the plane was sold for $1.9million and so the country encountered a loss of $800,000. Who was held accountable for this transaction? Was anyone held accountable?

A few years ago, the Government bought the school building that is located behind Abundant Life to house the technical school.  The Oseta Jolly Primary School was there on a temporary basis. However, the building is currently unoccupied and has been so for quite a while. We are spending a lot of money on rent when we have a building sitting there. We have classrooms in the public schools overcrowded when there is an unused government building. We have spent millions of dollars on this building, and it is just there. Somebody needs to be held accountable for this.

Conclusion

I know we change governments frequently, but it takes more than that to hold them accountable. Even if you are afraid to say something publicly, email or call your member of parliament. If you don’t say anything, they may think they are performing well. You see only a few people are holding the Government accountable at least on a public basis and so parliamentarians may think it is not a true representation of the people and that is why more people need to hold these parliamentarians accountable.

Now when it comes to the employees, employees must have smart objectives and must be appraised without any fear. There is too much slackness in the workplace and it is because there is a lack of accountability.

Share this post

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share This

Share this post with your friends!