Why are all Peruvians being asked to synchronise their watches and clocks at midday tomorrow, March 1st, 2007,at the precise time given by the Peruvian navy?

This quote says it all Fred!

quote:

Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge Del Castillo confirmed that a massive campaign to change Peru's widespread problem of tardiness will begin on Thursday, March 1 at noon. Citizens throughout Peru are urged to synchronize their watches and clocks to the official time used by the Peruvian Navy. Don't be late!

Another nanny state regulation?

This is the campaign called 'Peru. La hora sin demora'. Peru has hora Peruana, Peru time. So entrenched is the habit of tardiness and unpunctuality that locals specify hora Inglesa 'English time' which , in theory, means the agreed time of a meeting, if they hope to meet some time vaguely approximate to the time stated.

Former President Toledo routinely arrived up to two hours late for meetings . He was even 45 minutes late for the inauguration of his successor, though he had but four blocks to travel. His successor, President Garcia, would not have been surprised. He himself had to wait twenty minutes for his rival to appear for a presidential debate on TV in May

So some optimist has decided that Peruvians should 'undergo a change in mental attitude' as the head of the Cabinet put it. Many business deals, thinks the government, are never made because of unpunctuality. Fat chance of change! [Source: The Times, 28th February '07]