Martin HenryWE DON'T know what the Minister told them. But it's not too hard to guess. On Monday Permanent Secretaries were summoned to an extraordinary meeting with the man who doles out their budgets and is responsible for the Public Service, Finance and Planning, Minister Dr. Omar Davies. Things serious. The debt crunch and the cash flow crunch are causing real concerns about the operations of the state, to put the matter mildly.
In the midst of the fiscal gloom, I have had some surprisingly pleasant engagements with a number of public agencies in recent times. Can you believe it, a real case of zero waiting time for service at the Passport Office? I walked into the pleasant, air-conditioned office late morning, prepared for a wait. But the ticket dispensed from the machine by a pleasant security officer actually said 'Zero minutes waiting time' and I had to fumble for documents as my number came over the intercom, 'Now serving number 570 at window 10'.
In 10 minutes the application for renewal had been checked, the fee paid and I was out of there with a collection date for the passport. I went back for the passport the day after the given collection date, just to make sure. I sat under the outdoor tent for a few minutes, and was called up in a batch by number. The passport was ready on time, on target. Pick up was no more than another 10 minutes.
We have been thoroughly conditioned by years of bad service to brace for long waits, sullen and rude delivery, and return dates which are a bad joke. People have become used to lining up from early in the morning to suffer through the day at public facilities which dispense service to large numbers of people. But as I discovered with the Passport Office going later in the day when the morning rush is off guarantees faster turnaround time. But then if everybody now does that...
PLEASANT SERVICE
The St. Andrew Revenue Collection Centre gave me, again, brisk and pleasant service in renewing my motor vehicle road licence in clean and comfortable surroundings. A new addition is chairs placed by the senior citizens line, a facility which I don't need just yet. I notice the post offices now have benches which pensioners can use on collection day. My only quarrel about renewing my road licence was with the retroactive increase of fee. The clerk, with no power at all to adjust the cost, absorbed my gripe good-naturedly and had me out in a few minutes. With all these hefty fees and taxes, why is the Government so broke?
For years the collectorate has been offering extended opening hours to facilitate clients. The old attitude of setting opening hours which clients are forced to match, however inconvenient, has changed quite significantly to one of accommodating users with greater flexibility. There are still some crunch times though that smart people avoid. The volumes of clients at the collectorate are huge at month end and at the end of the financial year when all kinds of taxes and fees fall due.
The Registrar General's Department is a fixture in the newspapers and on the talk shows for complaints. That has not been my experience. I have not been to their new facility at Twickenham Park. I have obtained pretty quickly, though not exactly on time and on target, more than one set of birth certificates by mailing in the particulars with manager's cheques and having the documents delivered to my address.
NEW FACILITY
Every year I buy the Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica (EESJ) from the Planning Institute of Jamaica. This year the encounter was so much better. A smart looking sales office adjoins the nice looking lobby at the new facility in New Kingston. The customer doesn't have to get past security into the offices and find the library to make a simple purchase. Publications are on display with prices and I actually ended up buying more than the ESSJ. The sales clerk was engaged with the task, brisk and pleasant. But the receipt-writing process was too slow and cumbersome. Come on. This is the age of computers. Automatic recording of sale and print out of receipt can be very easily arranged. And the customer's name and address seem irrelevant to purchase.
My encounters with the security and justice system, the heart of the function of the State, have been much less favourable. A trip to the Half Way Tree courthouse revealed a dirty dump, poor waiting facilities for clients and shabby service in a callous atmosphere. Having to report a traffic accident brought me into the haughty presence of His Majesty, the traffic officer, in a rotten police station. It is a shame that members of the public must be so poorly served and that officers must work, never mind this particular case of callous pomposity, in facilities that should be condemned as hazards.
For some years now the Government has been engaged with a programme of improving public service through the formulation of citizen's charters, the formation of executive agencies and a public sector modernisation programme. There have been some spectacular results in patches here and there in quality of service and turnaround times. As the ODPEM launched its Citizen's Charter last week, the 32nd charter, Cabinet Secretary Carlton Davis, the man who manages the process, told the audience that the Motor Vehicle Examination Depot has reduced by 99 per cent the time taken to process a certificate of fitness and the NIS has slashed the time for issuing funeral grants from 35 to two days. We want fuller reports about the whole programme.
Expectations are high and progress is too slow. People have endured bad service in just too many areas of the public service. But as the good examples show, change is possible.
Martin Henry is a communication specialist.
