[tz] South Sudan to change time zone?

[Brian Inglis]

On 2021-01-22 11:25, Tim Parenti wrote:
> 
> On Fri, 22 Jan 2021 at 10:17, Chris Hill <Chris.Hill at mafint.org 
> <mailto:Chris.Hill at mafint.org>> wrote:
> 
>     The official announcement (accessible without a Facebook account at
>     https://www.facebook.com/www.motps.goss.org/videos/3770463003014509/
>     <https://www.facebook.com/www.motps.goss.org/videos/3770463003014509/>
>     concurs with this:
> 
>     08:23 'So, from the 1st of February, we are going back to our actual
>     Greenwich Mean Time. We are going back to our local zone, of 2 hours'
>     difference between Greenwich Mean Time, which is the zero hour, and our
>     local time which will be 2 hours, which will be Greenwich Mean Time plus 2
>     hours'
> 
>     09:43 'On the 31st, and the morning starts, that morning will not start at
>     12, but when it is 12 midnight of the 31st of January, it will be 11
>     o'clock. And you continue like that... Our 12 midnight of the 31st January
>     will repeat itself; it will be 11, and then you go again for 12 midnight.
>     That is when it becomes according to our time now.'
> 
> 
> Thanks, Chris.  I saw yesterday that that video had been posted but hadn't yet 
> gotten a chance to pull the bits that caught my attention into an email.  Your 
> transcriptions here, particularly "On the 31st, and the morning [it] starts", 
> match my understanding as well, and appear to mean the recent patch from Paul 
> (dated Tue Jan 19 13:17:42 2021 -0800) is in line with the intent, that the 
> transition will be from 2021-01-31 24:00 +03 to 23:00 +02.
> 
> However, it seems in recent days that at least some are calling for a less 
> rushed approach:
> https://eyeradio.org/south-sudan-told-not-rush-change-of-time-zone/ 
> <https://eyeradio.org/south-sudan-told-not-rush-change-of-time-zone/>
> 
>     A South Sudan’s horologist is calling on the government to create more
>     awareness first before changing the country’s time zone.
> 
>     “In many countries, that is how things ought to be done,” Alex Lubajo said,
>     adding that “to be informed within a month that ‘next month we are going to
>     change the time zone,’ people are asking why?”
> 
>     Mr. Lubajo is an expert in horology – the art or science of measuring time.
>     …
>     “Looking at the Geography perspective, I don’t have opposition to the idea
>     but…people have to be educated first so that…they really understand,” he
>     advised.
> 
> 
> 
> Here are a few other quotes from the 2021-01-19 press conference on getting 
> radio, TV, and newspapers to communicate the change on short notice:
> 
> [15:52] "This is very important, and this is the message I want you to carry to 
> our people so that they understand it.  We have today — today is the 19th — and 
> we are left with only 11 days so that we change this time.  And before we change 
> it, we need to make it very clear to our people.  We need to make them 
> understand it."
> 
> [17:31] "This is very important, because changing of the timing is not that 
> easy.  It is just like changing the direction of the traffic on the road.  So, 
> if we explain this very well, we'll definitely have a very clear transit from 
> our three hours back to our two hours."
> 
> And on dark mornings being a motivating factor for the change:
> 
> [11:28] "This is so important, because our workers — even the cleaners — when 
> they leave…from…their houses — come into the offices to come and clean the 
> offices, they come at a time when it is very dark."
> 
> [20:42] "But for us, as government employees, as public servants, we are under 
> duty to report in time.  And this issue of timing, of a difference of three 
> hours, had been actually an inconvenience and an excuse for the employees to 
> delay and report late.  And most of them have actually been reporting late.  And 
> this is very clear, if you might have been passing through the offices in the 
> morning, you will see — you will find that at about 9, you will see the sweepers 
> are still sweeping the offices.  And this is what delays them.  So we decided to 
> adjust so that they come in time…"

Horologist mainly specifies one who repairs, or sometimes designs or builds, 
watches and clocks.

The Minister said in another article a week ago that the country has the right 
to change its legal time when it wants, and everyone, including the airlines, 
must comply.

-- 
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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