Tinted glass at gov’t cashier cages creating unfriendly environment

Dear Editor,

I am very concerned with the new advancements in security in Guyana. Many Government departments are following the trend of heavily tinted glass, whereby one cannot see the person to whom they are communicating. This is most common in places where there is a cashier. It becomes very annoying when you cannot see the person to whom you are speaking. For example, I had visited the airport to pay for parking; I was very disturbed by the huge black glass at the cashiers’ point. Not only at the airport but also at the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in Peters Hall and the Post Office on Alexander Street, Kitty. This is happening at a number of places where we have had security slackness but now it seems as though everyone has gone “security crazy”.

Instead of fostering security, this form of mechanism can lead to much more catastrophic, fraudulent activities. A receipt could be issued that is fake. The customer would not be able to identify the person who handled the financial transaction. To the authorities concerned if it has not occurred before, it will happen and we may not be able to identify who we did business with.

This form of behaviour also has a negative psychological effect on customers. In my opinion it displays a form of anti-social behaviour and

is still mainly women in those jobs. There are two main reasons for this. The first is the gender role referred to earlier: women are seen as being better able to provide care to patients. This is of course patently untrue as anyone can provide care. The second reason is that nursing is a poorly paid job. The taught norms include the premise that men have to be providers/breadwinners, they have to earn more than their spouses, so most men, even if they have an aptitude or love for it would rather not join the profession. (The false idea that they have to earn more than their wives has created insecurity in many men and thus damaged many a relationship.) This same sort of imbalance obtains in the social care workforce and the teaching profession for the same reasons. It should be mentioned too that apart from meagre salaries in these professions, working conditions are appallingly difficult and demanding: the kinds of conditions that women are expected to endure and conquer while still giving of their best. Furthermore, women do not stop working when they leave their jobs. They go home where they bear the brunt of unpaid work: child-rearing, cooking, cleaning and laundry as their mothers did before them. While there are some men who also take on work in the home because they are ‘woke’ – the popular word for having a sense of awareness – for the most part, this does not happen and often, even when it does, women spend twice as much time as men on household tasks.

unfriendly customer relations or rudeness on the part of the administration of the Post Office and other such places. It is not only annoying but as a customer I feel estranged and uncomfortable because I cannot communicate with my Guyanese citizens. I have a way of smiling and chatting and spreading joy. I do understand the security consideration, but whatever security mechanism is put in place, it must not appear that the department or business is unfriendly.

This ridiculous tinting that prevents you from communicating with the other person makes it seem as

As regards women’s representation in corporations and government, Guyana has continually practiced a form of affirmative action and at present has about 32% women in parliament, handpicked by the parties they represent. By contrast, Cuba and Bolivia each have 53% women parliamentarians, while Rwanda has 61.3% There is established evidence that women’s leadership in political decision-making processes improves not just parliaments and governments, but entire countries. Women demonstrate political leadership working on such issues as the environment, childcare, pensions, gender-equality laws, stamping out domestic violence and sexual exploitation and promoting electoral reform. It is time to better the balance in Guyana and around the world and the only way to do this is for women to take their rightful places as per their qualifications and skillsets. Biological fatherhood is the only job in the world where male genitalia is an absolute requirement.

though we are living in a crime-ridden society. However, when we visit the bank, which deals with billions of dollars daily and our private businesses we do not encounter such unfriendly tinting, so then why is it that this “tinting madness” is happening at the parking lot at the airport, the NDCs and the Post Offices? I do not like to make a critique without giving a suggestion. Therefore my suggestion is where you have the tint cut a facial size hole so that the person can be seen and can communicate “eyeball to eyeball”, yet install other security mechanisms for example CCTV cameras, grill work, grill mesh, wrought iron grills or wired grills, whatever mechanism that can be used for security should be used but do not cause your business or Guyanese to feel uncomfortable and estranged.

Yours faithfully, Roshan Khan Snr