Dennie Quill, Contributor
I HAVE NEVER had a vehicle towed but recently I have heard two horrific accounts of how much of an ordeal it is to recover your vehicle once it is towed by the authorities. One motorist described a classic case of 'send the fool a bit further'. He went from Lyndhurst Road to downtown Kingston to Elleston Road and back again in an attempt to locate his vehicle. No one along the process stream cared about his problem, it was his vehicle and he had to find it. In the other instance the motorist spent hours trying to license his car and pay penalties; when he emerged from the tax office it was the end of the business day - and the process was still not completed.
My conversation with these two persons began with the towing of motor vehicles in Kingston, but we quickly came to this conclusion: the public service is systematically incom-petent and inefficient.
Both motorists were at fault - one driving an unlicensed vehicle and the other illegally parked. This article is not about giving 'blighs' to persons who flout the law. What I am concerned about is the numerous instances in which an overly inhibitive bureaucracy is strangling this country's efforts to become efficient and we continue to tolerate a culture in which red tape consistently triumphs over common sense. I have heard a politician describe bureaucracy as "the excretion of a thousand rules and a thousand steps." Welcome to Jamaica.
The revenue departments are the worst and it appears that a central unwritten code in their job description says 'punish them'. Let me cite a few horrors: You go to collect imported items at Customs and the accepted procedure is that you have to be 'benched' before you can be served. This means you must sit on a hard, wooden bench and cool your heels awaiting the pleasure of Mr. or Mrs. Customs Officer who will in their own time summon you to a window where you are likely to be told something which will result in further benching.
DIRECTION
At the tax office you will find directions needlessly complex and will be unable to negotiate the line without the help of a security guard. The line which says 'express only one transaction' is interpreted to mean if you are making say GCT payments retroactively, in respect of several months, only one payment will be accepted from each taxpayer. The clerk feels she has no discretion in the matter and she will sullenly accept payment for one month only and suggest you join another line to get rid of the money that you are holding for the Government.
PENALTY
The truth is there is no penalty for sloppy work. No sanctions for incompetence. No reprimand for inefficiency. The system is awash with incompetence.
While the revenue departments are bad, there are many parallels across the spectrum of central and local government. For example, you go to a police station to file a report and the policeman is on the telephone having what appears to be a private conversation. He ignores you and when he is good and ready his dour countenance makes you feel you have intruded on his private time.
You live in an area where you are bombarded night after night with the thumping sounds of dancehall music. You make several telephone calls to the police and even if anyone answers, there will be no relief as the music continues.
As far as the city of Kingston is concerned I have no qualms about laying the blame for official ineptitude at the feet of Mayor Desmond McKenzie. For example, he continues to do nothing about the huge multi-storey St. Lucia Avenue eyesore which has become a New Kingston landmark, haunted by vagrants, while people doing business in the country's premier business district have nowhere to park and are reduced to playing hopscotch with the wrecker.
Is there no one in government who understands the need for a total transformation? We continue to pay lip service to efficiency and throw money at the problem in attempts to modernize, and at the end of the day all we are left with is a shambolic bureaucracy.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.
