Worker productivity depends on efficient public transport

Unfriendly, indisciplined system leads to frustration:

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The country needs to improve productivity of the workforce to compete in the region as a hub, irrespective of the sector. There will be several ways to increase the output and service level to gain the benefit of time management, Shippers’ Academy (SA) Chief Executive Officer, Rohan Masakorala told Daily News Business.

Highlighting the importance of a proper public transport system to improve worker productivity he said worker productivity overall has to increase.

It is often discussed at various fora and discussions that if the Sri Lankan economy has to move at a greater pace be it services or in the manufacturing industry, an effective transport system is a must. Some industries calculate productivity in minutes and others per hour basis monitoring output of production.

“In the service sector what is important is the response time, be it preparation of documentation, authorizations or communicating and coordination,” he said.

Among them we need to understand the importance of having an extremely efficient public transport system within urban and industrial regions and a well connected hinterland to the economic regions which will support better movement of the workforce as over 65 percent of the population live out of the cities.

Masakorala who is also a senior consultant to the Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA) said in the recent years they have seen a large amount of money being spent by the government in building large scale infrastructure projects, in building roads, bridges, expanding railway which should be highly appreciated as the country was lacking much needed infrastructure.

But now it is time to bring in proper systems to manage and discipline service providers in the public transport system, irrespective of them being State run or privately run.

“Sri Lanka’s public transport system is over stretched and very badly organised, nearly two thirds of passenger transport in buses are run by the private sector. However over the last 30 years we have not seen progressive development simply because commuters are not satisfied the way it is operated, he said.

Over 90 percent of the private and public sector workers use public transport to get to the workplace and if the system fails we can expect lower productivity that will have a direct impact on the country.

Masakorala questions, how one can expect the best out of people, if the first thing in the morning they have to go through hardship through an unfriendly transport system.

“Buses don’t run on time. They are over crowded; they are not disciplined and really don’t care about the passenger and their comfort and a simple timetable mechanism is not in place,” he said.

“We have to understand the psychology and the human side of the problem, when we talk of increasing the worker productivity. It is understood that in an average traditional household in Sri Lanka, people have to leave homes by around 6 am in the morning whilst they have to attend to their children, take them to schools and prepare meals for the day.

They have to report to work by 8.30 or 9 in the morning, but in most public offices we see workers get to office between 9.15 and 9.45, by the time they sit to work 1-1.30 hours of precious time is lost. This excuse is common in the private sector too as most people report the delays due to buses and trains not being available.

In the evenings too we find the same rush, in government offices, employees tend to finish work by around 3.30 although it is supposed to be 4.15 pm.

“I personally think we can’t blame them, because these employees and workers come from far away places to the city.

Even if they find some kind of public transport to get out of the city, in the event if they get too late to leave office or factory, once they reach the suburbs or rural areas the bus services are not available to get to home and they are forced to walk, if they leave office by 4.30 pm, they get home after 8 pm.

This is not good for the social system and we cannot expect good productivity out of people who are frustrated and more importantly how can we change their attitudes?

Look at some of the regional hubs, Singapore, Hong Kong and now even in Dubai we find the focus and the importance given to an efficient public transport systems. Same with the developed world like Japan, United Kingdom.

If the public transport system is not improved we will see more and more congestion in the cities as people who can even slightly afford will try to come to work on a motorbike or a small car, where as in the developed hubs we see the most senior officials to the businessmen and the expanding middle class taking the public transport system to get to workplaces as it is cheap and reliable.

So, blaming the worker and employee alone is not going to solve the problem of productivity under these circumstances, we have to look at the social structures and conditions. These issues have to be addressed and improved if we are to change output as a middle income nation.

I am confident that if we can introduce proper timetables with clean buses and bus stands, more people will use the service paying a reasonable price. If Sri Lanka is to be a global hub, it is a must that we have a quality public transport system in place. This will not only support us to be a successful logistics centre but is a must if are to bring in quality tourists to the country and develop night bazaars and shopping complexes.

As the former Secretary General of JAAF, Masakorala says one of the reasons that the apparel companies have managed to increase productivity is by the fact that employers at their cost is providing private transport arrangements to the factories they manage in rural Sri Lanka.

The company arranges pick up and drop off giving the workers the security and confidence of leaving and arriving on a timetable, so that they are not burdened of not knowing what time the bus will arrive.

It is proven that these arrangements have increased productivity and attitude changes to the workers. But the point is this responsibility cannot be placed on the employer who brings business and creates employment to the country.

The government must invest on systems and discipline the service providers and get involved in better planning. This will increase greater mobility to the public and help overall productivity improvements.

Masakorala also cautioned that expansion of infrastructure with modern roads without bringing in the discipline to drivers especially heavy vehicles like buses and trucks could be a death trap to the people. People need to know how to drive in a highway like the Colombo -Matara, if not consequences would be costly.

He said the time is right for the government to invest in a media publicity programme on a daily basis on road rules and discipline extensively both in print and electronic media. This will also reduce congestion and road accidents.

“We need to work towards a modern transport network, we may not do it overnight but it will be a must if we want to be a regional hub and the time is running out as competitor countries are way ahead of us, he said.

“There is a definite co-relationship between public transport systems and productivity,” he said.