You should not have to be calling individuals to expedite the process

Introduction
I really don’t like putting the Government Departments in the public spotlight like this because there are some great hard working civil servants but my experiences with some of these Departments over the last month has forced me to write this article. I used to hear many people complain about the services and I used to think they exaggerated until I experience it for myself.
I must admit there are some individuals that I can call in some of these Departments who can help expedite the process but what about others who do not know who to call. It should not be this way, there should be standard process and a process that is efficient, effective and timely.
The Issues
• I waited in queue for more than three hours to pay for the licensing of a vehicle. Then had to wait again for an officer to put the sticker on the vehicle. Because of this, it appears that some individuals somehow are able to beat the process and is able to get ahead of the line while others have to wait in the heat for hours. This is very inefficient and unfair to individuals.
• Ironically the day before, I was in line to licence vehicle and I was speaking to one of the employees while in line. She said that is not the day for licensing but there is no signage to indicate the days.
• Earlier this year, I went to renew the licence of a vehicle and was asked to show proof that I had paid for the licence plate, (a licence plate that I paid for, for more than a year ago). Thank God I was able to able to find the receipt but this is very alarming as you would think that a computerized system should reflect my payment.
• In another department, I applied for an exemption on transfer from a personal name to a Company name. Weeks later, the application was denied due to a technical issue.
• In another department, you submit the required documents for a passport and then weeks later you are told this is missing.
• In another department, no matter how long you submit the application for a work permit, sometimes, you don’t get the actual work permit until close to expiration.

Another issue is that there are customer service agents available but not taking on any customers despite the fact that there is a long line of customers waiting to be served. I recalled a few years ago, I went to collect a police record. I was the only customer there but yet the agent refused to give me the police record stating I came on the wrong day. However, there was no signage stating which days you should come for the collection of police record.

Recommendations
• After a vehicle is inspected, it should be entered in a computerized system so when you go to pay for the licence, everything will already be in place.
• There should also be a numbering system in place so that when individuals arrive, they will get a number.
• Signage should be visible on the departments as to which days, the services are available.
• All applications should be vetted immediately upon receipt to ensure that all the required documents are in place.
• E- Governance is necessary to deal with some of these issues. There must be in place whereby we can submit our applications online and pay at the same time. When the application is processed and completed, we should get a notification when the documentation is ready for collection.

All customer agents should be crossed trained and be able to multifunction which in turn will reduce the long queue.

Conclusion
I know it is difficult to address these issues in the public domain as you don’t want to embarrass anyone or any department but enough is enough and these issues have to be exposed to get action done.
There are too many inefficiencies in some of these Departments. However, I believe they can be resolved.