Its a shambles…….

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Hello good evening and welcome, it’s the start of another week where we shall all pick on Tony Blair and George W Bush again in an effort to protect the heroes on the front line and ensure there is a full, frank and honest public enquiry into their actions regarding Iraq and Afghanistan.

Here in Trinidad we need to describe the amount of honest hard working people that are messed around, tormented and abused by the establishment every day.

If road rage ever came to Trinidad it would be a blood bath (lets hope it stays away).

Trini‘s are very very laid back and it’s just as well really after the morning we had.

It was our first trip to the Licensing Department on Wrightson Road.

We arrived nice and early around 9 am and I went and applied for my licence renewal. No issue there and even paying for the licence was nice and quick. No problems and my receipt was stamped with the time of 9.19 am so that shows how quick it was.

All credit to the lovely staff that dealt with me.

At the same time my son was applying for his provisional licence. It’s a very important time in a young adults life and this along with other actions we take at this time in our life really help shape our future attitude. Especially towards the establishment.

I was going to launch into a tirade here about the personalities and the such BUT I wont lower myself into that except to say he left without it but had a very bad experience of the place.

It is no wonder people “Pay” for their license isn’t it? I mean, come on… would you put up with this rubbish service from the workers who either don’t want to change the rules and make it better or are too scared of the boss and losing their jobs to actually do anything about it. Either that or there is no discipline for them. It matters not what speed they work nor what they do (as I saw several wandering round doing nothing, yes just chatting) because there is no way to cut their pay, or make them accountable at all.

The Commissioner of Licensing is the head of the department and nobody, NOBODY, will challenge him. Well they should. He and his department are a disgrace.

That is a Trini all over I’m afraid, too laid back to ask for sorry, DEMAND, change!

If you are from the UK you will remember what the passport office on Petty France, in Victoria, London, used to be like before postal passports etc? Very long queues and bad-tempered staff with no accountability…

Well this is just the same. Slow, hot and stifling and no water fountains or bottles of water anywhere.

How can anyone justify the way the licensing department works?

I know there is bad press around about the department BUT it is thoroughly deserved. It is a shambles.

The only thing that will sort that place out will be a massive sacking of the people in charge and a complete reorganisation.

I saw over 200 people attend the department while I was there 200 x 4 (8 am to 12 pm) = 800 man hours lost just in the morning. Times that by the afternoon and then all week and that’s 8000 hours in lost working hours every week.

And my estimate is on the conservative side too!

Imagine what a wonderful country Trinidad & Tobago would be if these staff all did their jobs as if their … well… their Jobs… depended on it.