RANT ALERT: I have lived on the same short residential street for fourteen years. It has never been blessed with a smooth surface, but over the past several years, our road has deteriorated significantly. Personally, I am fond of the potholes as they slow down the reckless taxi drivers who use our road as a short cut, but after the 2017 rainy season, the potholes were craters. So about a week ago, I was happy to hear the noise of road construction outside. There was a road crew, I assume from the National Works Agency (NWA), although I don’t remember branding on the equipment or any Men At Work signs, and they cut the irregular craters into shapes approaching squares and rectangles. They dumped the waste asphalt on the verges and plantings. I spoke to one crew member and he assured me the waste asphalt would be removed. The pothole shaping took roughly two days. Then the men filled the holes with marl and tamped them down. And you already know what happened next – the work crew evaporated. And then it rained. Now, the regularized holes, to coin a term, are back to being craters and will have to be filled with marl again, IF, and it’s a big if, the crew returns before natural forces complete their efforts at transforming road into river bed. And I’m fairly sure the waste asphalt will remain on the verges for all time, colonized eventually by the defiant weeds of the tropics.
It was a small job, but I’d guess it’s going to cost twice what it’s worth and take three times as long as it should, if indeed it is done at all. And we see this all over the island – waste, failure to plan, poor workmanship, incompetence, hopelessly inefficient logistics. This is why the recurring ‘lack of resources’ argument as an explanation for the spreading ramshackle around us rings so hollow.
Nor is the failure to deliver confined to the state. Over the past four years, I’ve been involved in moving and renovation – first the Jamaica Environment Trust’s office, then my home, then my sister’s home. I’ve dealt with every possible type of general contractor – large companies and small ones – and a host of individual skilled and semi skilled workers, such as plumbers, carpenters, electricians, painters, masons and labourers. I’ve dealt with designers, makers of curtains, cushions and slipcovers, air conditioning and refrigerator technicians, furniture and appliance companies, grill and window contractors, washing machine installers and roofers. NO ONE was able to deliver the agreed job on time and on budget. While reasonable work, sometimes even excellent work, was delivered in the end, it was achieved only after endless, frustrating and occasionally hostile follow up.
Sometimes the problem was the weather – if you’re working outside, a torrential rainstorm is indeed a hurdle. But the weather was a problem even when the work was inside. And virtually no work crew could start on time – say, 8.30 A.M. – which would have yielded at least a few hours of work before the afternoon rain began.
The worst problem was when task A depended on task B being completed first, or even more problematically, tasks A and B being done at the same time. Assembling three different contractors at the same time to complete a job was about on par with getting a result of any kind from the American Congress.
What does all this mean for our development aspirations? We easily embrace a narrative of Jamaican exceptionalism – our country is the most beautiful, our people the most creative, our athletes unbeatable, our musicians the very stars in the firmament. The truth, however, is that whatever our innate and abundant talents, we squander them in lack of seriousness; in failing to understand the value of what Norman Washington Manley called “fixity of purpose and commitment to the task.”
(I think it was NWM – could not find the quote on the internet. Relying on shaky memory. If he didn’t say it, he should have!)
Make a plan. Cost it properly. Anticipate predictable hurdles like bad weather. Show up on time. Speak to customers when there’s a delay of whatever kind. Apologize for failures. Don’t cut corners. Deliver. It doesn’t sound so hard.
Here are the consequences of our lack of fixity of purpose: There’s work undone at my house, which means jobs and income for some, but I’m too frustrated to bother with it.
It was a small job, but I’d guess it’s going to cost twice what it’s worth and take three times as long as it should, if indeed it is done at all. And we see this all over the island – waste, failure to plan, poor workmanship, incompetence, hopelessly inefficient logistics. This is why the recurring ‘lack of resources’ argument as an explanation for the spreading ramshackle around us rings so hollow.
Nor is the failure to deliver confined to the state. Over the past four years, I’ve been involved in moving and renovation – first the Jamaica Environment Trust’s office, then my home, then my sister’s home. I’ve dealt with every possible type of general contractor – large companies and small ones – and a host of individual skilled and semi skilled workers, such as plumbers, carpenters, electricians, painters, masons and labourers. I’ve dealt with designers, makers of curtains, cushions and slipcovers, air conditioning and refrigerator technicians, furniture and appliance companies, grill and window contractors, washing machine installers and roofers. NO ONE was able to deliver the agreed job on time and on budget. While reasonable work, sometimes even excellent work, was delivered in the end, it was achieved only after endless, frustrating and occasionally hostile follow up.
Sometimes the problem was the weather – if you’re working outside, a torrential rainstorm is indeed a hurdle. But the weather was a problem even when the work was inside. And virtually no work crew could start on time – say, 8.30 A.M. – which would have yielded at least a few hours of work before the afternoon rain began.
The worst problem was when task A depended on task B being completed first, or even more problematically, tasks A and B being done at the same time. Assembling three different contractors at the same time to complete a job was about on par with getting a result of any kind from the American Congress.
What does all this mean for our development aspirations? We easily embrace a narrative of Jamaican exceptionalism – our country is the most beautiful, our people the most creative, our athletes unbeatable, our musicians the very stars in the firmament. The truth, however, is that whatever our innate and abundant talents, we squander them in lack of seriousness; in failing to understand the value of what Norman Washington Manley called “fixity of purpose and commitment to the task.”
(I think it was NWM – could not find the quote on the internet. Relying on shaky memory. If he didn’t say it, he should have!)
Make a plan. Cost it properly. Anticipate predictable hurdles like bad weather. Show up on time. Speak to customers when there’s a delay of whatever kind. Apologize for failures. Don’t cut corners. Deliver. It doesn’t sound so hard.
Here are the consequences of our lack of fixity of purpose: There’s work undone at my house, which means jobs and income for some, but I’m too frustrated to bother with it.