Time management to be factored into 40-yr devt plan
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) is considering incorporating the judicious use of time into the long-term development plan that is being formulated.
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The commission is of the firm belief that the primary objective of the plan, which is to fast-track socio-economic progress, will not be achieved until attitudinal challenges such as citizens’ commitment to time are properly addressed.
The Chairman of the Commission, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, disclosed this at the National Dialogue on Timekeeping in Accra.
If finally approved, timeliness will be one of the key attributes citizens will have to imbibe and apply to ensure a quick and strong growth of the economy within the 40-year period that the plan will cover.
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.
Cost of lateness
The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Kwasi Gyan Apenteng, noted that bad timekeeping could cost a country’s productivity.
Unlike Ghana where the cost of time to the nation was not estimated, he said lateness to work in the United Kingdom was estimated to be costing that country £9 billion (about GH¢48.6 billion) every year.
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Explaining further, Mr Apenteng said lateness had now become a hidden drain on the political, economic, cultural and social fabric of the country, hence the need to solve it quickly.
“Lateness has so much become part of us that even when people are late to an event, the ease with which they walk to take their seats leaves me worried,” he added.
‘Ghana Man’ Time
A representative of Gelis Communications, Mr Emmanuel Fiagbenu, said over the years, the country had spent time and resources to improve systems, forgetting the importance of punctuality and its impact on productivity.
Ghanaians’ attitude to time, he said, was an age-old problem which had painted the picture that the citizens were born to be late to all events.
“This attitude has earned us a negative reputation and a tag line known as Ghana Man Time, which must change.
“As a country located in the centre of the world, we must begin to regard Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as ‘Ghana Means Time’ and not ‘Ghana Man Time’,” he said.
As Ghana prepared for its 59th independence anniversary on March 6, Mr Fiagbenu expressed the hope that the situation would change when the country hit 60 next year.
Sustained campaign
The dialogue was organised by Gelis Communications, a multi-disciplinary communications company, as part of activities to whip up public interest in good-time management. It was supported by Journalists for Business Advocacy and Nano Fixit.
The dialogue will form part of a sustained campaign that will explore ways of tackling lateness in the daily lives of Ghanaians.
It will pave the way for the organisers to host a conference in May this year to deliberate on the issue, which has affected every facet of life in the country.