Bahamians have become used to lining up from early morning to suffer through the day at public facilities which dispense service to large numbers of people. Two departments together with the Hospital Authority are particularly notorious for making us wait inordinate lengths of time for service: The Passport Office and Motor Vehicle Licencing.
On Thursday past I had reason to visit the Motor Vehicle Licencing unit to licence my wife’s car and was told that to do so, I had to bring along her driver’s licence. When I questioned as to whether this was a new requirement, the clerk told me that even she was surprised when told on Monday that this was to be a new requirement. While I have absolutely no qualms with this new requirement, certainly it should have occurred to author of this new requirement that the public ought to have been informed before
it was implemented. To not do so is uncaring and downright silly.
One can only imagine the man-hours wasted by persons having to visit the motor vehicle licencing unit only to find that the requirements to complete their transaction has changed and they have to return to finish the transaction. There is also the stress factor associated with snaking through the ever-present traffic jams. Very annoying indeed.
To make matters worse, when I returned with my wife’s drivers licence, there were 19 persons (I counted them) waiting to be served by one cashier! After about 15 minutes another cashier did show up. The second cashier served me and for the five minutes she took to do so she was on the telephone for most of that.
Government departments that provide services to the public really need to reinvent themselves. For starters they can take a page out of Batelco’s customer service playbook by changing the hours these services are offered to operating hours that accomodates users. The old attitude of setting opening hours which customers are forced to match is both archaic and inconvenient.
My encounters with the security and justice system, the heart of the function of the state, have been much less than favourable. For the most part the courthouses are dirty dumps, there are poor waiting facilities and shabby service in a callous atmosphere.
In my view the following buildings should be condemned: Clarence Bain, Rodney Bain, Churchill Building, The Post Office Building on East Hill Street, Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Building, the building on Hawkins Hill that houses the Immigration Department and the Maximum Security Unit at HM Prison. We are also in need of a new hospital!
It is a shame that members of the public who foot the bills, mostly at great sacrifice, must be so poorly served and that public officers must work in facilities that should be condemned as hazards.
One might ask, and rightly so, where do we get the resources to upgrade our public physical plant to the extent that is necessary. Well where there is a will there is always a way and with careful planning, creativity and fiscal prudence it can happen. It will not happen next year or even during the next five years, but the longest journey starts with the first step.
Jerry Roker, Letter To The Editor
