THE EDITOR, Sir:I ARRIVED home on December 21, 2004 to spend Christmas with my family as usual, but got an experience that I want to share.
I had a new cell phone in my hand luggage that is registered here in Aruba, and cannot be used elsewhere, and I intended taking it back to Aruba with me when I leave on January 1, 2005.
The Customs officer did not believe my story and said she had to check with her supervisor on the matter.
She left and returned to inform me that her supervisor had valued the phone for J$6200.00 and that I had to pay 40 per cent of the value if I was to leave the Customs area with the phone, or leave it and I would get it back when I am leaving.
I left the phone and got a detention notice with all my details on it. When I arrived at the Customs department to collect my telephone prior to my departure on January 1, I realised that I had misplaced the detention notice.
I explained this to the Customs officer that was there, she informed me that the telephone could not be returned to me without my copy of the notice unless I reported the matter to the police.
I then went to the police station at the airport and made a report, while making the report someone in the station said to me 'you are wasting your time you will never see that telephone again'.
I did not want to believe that this would happen, so I took the document that the police gave me back to the same Customs officer, who informed me in a very cold tone, without even looking at the document I had 'that is not the end of your troubles. You need to take that document downtown, but that office is not opened today'.
During the episode other persons sitting behind desk in the office were having a grand laugh.
Is this the norm for us that had to leave our beloved country, at great sacrifice to our family life, in order to send back monthly remittance so that our families can have a decent life that working at home could not afford them?
I am, etc.,
DELROY TURNER
delroy@setarnet.aw
Oranjestad, Aruba
Via Go-Jamaica
