We have had, and continue to have, cause for frustration and quarrel over how we have gone about much of the preparation in Jamaica for Cricket World Cup, of which we are one of the Caribbean hosts.

This project has been half a decade in the making, but it is within the past fortnight, for instance, that there has been any significant energy around things like cleaning up Kingston and other towns and minor infrastructural works. It will be a wonder, for example, if the new perimeter fence and pedestrian walkway or the replanting of shrubs at National Heroes Park will be completed in time for Tuesday's opening match of the tournament at Sabina Park.

But while there is much to complain about over the last-minute approach to things and what it may reveal of our capacity to manage, all the brickbats should not be thrown at the heads of officialdom. All of us, perhaps, need to internalise the issues that have developed about the planning for the tournament and our values and attitudes, generally. Not least of these is the attitude of "soon come, no problem". Nothing is ever a problem requiring more than breezing through. And hardly is anything worth doing now, when it can wait until tomorrow - soon come.

These traits may be endearing on tourist posters and in the dreamland of idyllic lives lived on beaches under coconut palms - a sort of modern-day species of hunter-gatherers. Except, as President Alan Garcia has been telling the people of Peru, such attitudes are not so cute, and certainly not rewarding, if you are trying to build a modern economy and are intent on not being left behind in this globalised and competitive world. Last week, in Lima, Mr. Garcia launched a campaign to get Peruvians to keep time, which he hopes will impact on the country's development.

We commend the project to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, whom we would not expect to have any difficulty in the least in either its embrace or execution. Her example of on-time behaviour could begin to shift paradigms in Jamaica.

Mrs. Simpson Miller's campaign,should she take on the assignment, would include building a culture of patience and our capacity to queue. We have had recent examples of our failings in these spheres and the negative impact on discipline.

We do not question that there was a foul-up in the process for the distribution of passes to the young performers who will dance at the CWC's formal opening in Trelawny. But the chaos at the gates at Sabina Park on Thursday was as much about people's impatience and their difficulty in standing in line. There was, at intervals, a crush at the gates.

It would be helpful if the PM tells parish councils that it is not cool to engage in petty hustles and favour-seeking. And also that she does not expect to see the people's representatives, parish councillors or otherwise, attempting to 'beat' the gate at cricket or any other event.

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