Dear Editor,
Recently the Fire Chief commented that the number of fires increased only by seven from last year. The Chief was minimising a 22 per cent increase in fires year over year. For this reason, in my opinion, everything should be expressed in percentage change.
Politicians and leaders should refrain from saying numbers and get in the habit of presenting in percentage. For instance, hundreds or thousands having access to water or electricity for the first time is meaning less if it is less than five per cent of the local population and 10 per cent of the national population. Similarly, report the percentage of population that is literate or is immunised.
Hundreds protesting parking meters is less than one per cent of total population and therefore should warrant the commensurate resources from a cost benefit analysis. Where is the mass protest against eight hours of electricity per day, ie, constant and sustainable blackouts for decades? If 90 per cent of the Guyanese people protest against the lack of reliable electricity, then parking meter would look like an issue for the elite that can only afford cars.
Percentage matters, winning an election if only 40 per cent of eligible voters turned out is completely meaningless.
Reporting millions spent on public projects is not the same as saying those same millions only achieved 25 per cent completion, or accounted 110 per cent of budget.
Sincerely,
Keith Bernard
