We must learn to keep to time - Ato Sarpong

The Deputy Minister of Communication, Mr Ato Sarpong, has advised Ghanaians to make efficient use of their time to be more productive.

That, he said, was because Ghanaians, especially the youth, unconsciously spent their time on issues that were not profitable.

Mr Sarpong said this at the media launch of the National Dialogue on Timekeeping in Accra and urged Ghanaians to be time conscious in all their endeavour in order to avoid future regrets.

According to him, big economies such as the United State of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK) and China are doing well because they have put premium on accurate time keeping.

He said government had tried to address this attitude that had found its way into the Ghanaian society.

“Through the National Information Technology Agency, for example, the government has introduced the Ghana electronic payment platform to help speed up business transaction,” he said.

The National Dialogue on Timekeeping was organised by the Gelis Communication in partnership with the Journalist for Business Advocacy (JBA) and was aimed at sensitising the public to judicious use of time.

Concern for all

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gelis Communication, Mr Emmanuel Fiabgenu, noted that the issue of timekeeping and time management had been very critical, yet it was not a popular subject matter in the country.

“As a country, we have spent time and resources to improve our systems, structures, facilities and many other critical areas of our lives,” he said.

He reiterated that the issue about the Ghanaian attitude to time was an age-old problem and over time many people had conveniently created the notion that Ghanaians were born to be late in everything, adding that this attitude has earned the country a negative reputation.

Cost of lateness

The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Kwesi Gyan-Apenteng, for his part, said lateness could cause a country to lose huge revenue.

He said a new survey conducted in the United Kingdom (UK) revealed that lateness to work cost nine billion pounds every year to that country.

Although no institution has calculated how much the country loses as a result of lateness, Mr Gyan-Apenteng said its implication must be immense on Ghana.

"The amount of resources that are wasted due to lateness runs into millions of cedis in monetary terms," he said.

The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, who was the chairman of the programme, disclosed that his outfit was considering incorporating prudent use of time into the long-term development plan being formulated.

According to him, commitment to time can fast-track the socio-economic progress of the country.

Dr Thompson explained that timeliness was crucial to the development of a country; hence, the decision to consider adding it to the plan.

“Going to events late, executing projects behind schedule and bad time management have an impact on development and until we tackle these soft issues which require attitudinal change, our development will continue to lag behind,” he said.-GB