Culture shift needed in customer service, public cleanliness – Tourism Minister

Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Susan Rodrigues has reinforced the need for frontline workers across the country to improve their customer service and attitudes when interacting with members of the public.
Speaking during The Guyana Dialogue programme, the Minister emphasised the importance of fostering greater environmental awareness among citizens and keeping their surroundings clean.

According to the Minister, she recently made tourism awareness a priority and launched a campaign dubbed “Tourism Is Everybody’s Business” to promote positive attitudes, discourage littering and encourage politeness and courtesy in customer service.
She noted that these standards should not only apply when interacting with visitors but also in everyday interactions with others.
“This has to be a way of life. We have to promote good quality customer service in every interaction and in every organisation and establishment. This is not a tourism-alone issue. This is a cultural issue. And it has to become a campaign that would reinforce positive attitudes in our public service, in our schools, in our hospitals, in private organisations, and, of course, in tourism businesses, in the hotels, in the restaurants, in the shops, the small businesses. We have to standardise a good quality customer service,” the Minister stated.
She made it clear that improving customer service must be a high priority, noting that the Cabinet has been discussing ways to improve the public service and how public servants interact with members of the public.
The Minister also pointed out that improvements have been made internally, including the upgrading of reception areas in various Ministries to make them more welcoming to people seeking services at public offices.
She further stated that efforts must continue to encourage Guyanese not to litter or dirty the country.
“We have to adopt positive attitudes to interaction and interacting with people when we provide services for them. And we’ve been promoting this even in the public sector. The President has been speaking about this.”

Greater public responsibility
Drawing on her own experiences, Rodrigues noted that even the best sanitation plans can fall short when members of the public fail to play their part in keeping the city clean. She pointed to the seawall, where families gather on Sundays to enjoy time together but often leave behind a mess, with bins overflowing despite regular cleaning efforts. Even after the area is cleaned, she said, it is not long before it becomes untidy again.

Against this backdrop, she stressed that sanitation is not solely a Government responsibility, adding that efforts are being made to address the situation, but lasting change will also require greater public responsibility.
“We’re trying to do our best, given the capacity that we have, to help resolve this situation. [This includes] installing receptacles throughout the city and ensuring that, in the areas where we have management, those bins are emptied.”
Meanwhile, she noted that the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), which has historically been controlled by the People’s National Congress Reform/A Partnership for National Unity (PNC/APNU) coalition, has always been called out for lack of greater progress in predictable sanitation management in the city. Nevertheless, she said she would have liked to see images of the ongoing rehabilitation works in Georgetown under a project being led by the Government in collaboration with the King’s Foundation to restore the city.
“We’re working on our historical buildings, restoring them. We’re upgrading all of the avenues. We’re installing proper parking on the carpets and installing walkways for Guyanese and visitors alike to walk safely in the city. We’re upgrading the drains to concrete drains so that all of the canals can be clean and clear and the city can be clean and fresh all of the time. But, of course, while this project and initiative is being led by our Government, it is important that we reinforce that this has to be a broader effort.”

Promote positive attitude
She called on members of the public to promote positive attitudes towards the environment by discouraging littering and encouraging greater respect for the country. She noted that Guyanese often abide by environmental laws and take better care of their surroundings when travelling overseas, arguing that the same standards should be upheld at home.
The stressed that adopting these attitudes would help improve the standard of living for Guyanese while ensuring the country remains clean and presentable for visitors.