Some government agencies are becoming places of chaos

Dear Editor, It has been observed that some government agencies are becoming places of chaos. I would specifically list the GRA in Camp Street and NIS in Brickdam, the pension section.

Some time back it used to be a pleasure doing business at GRA where every department was streamlined so that every transaction was catered for. Purchasing a motor licence used to take a few minutes, because there were many windows operating and attending to the public concerns.

Now a member of the public is at a loss as to where a transaction is done in the building. Even the security personnel used to be au fait with the running of GRA and were able to guide you to the correct line to transact your business. Today, this is not so.

About two months ago I went there to purchase my vehicle licence. I had to join a curving line and still wasn’t sure that it was the correct line. It took me almost fifty minutes to complete a three-minute transaction.

I saw some aged persons give up in frustration; on reaching the counter they were told they were in the wrong line. I saw members of the public moving hither and thither looking for the correct section to do business.

There needs to be effective management not only in handling the workers in the organisation, but in dealing with the general public. Dealing with the general public is the barometer for measuring management effectiveness.

The NIS pension section is another area that has deteriorated in terms of dealing effectively with senior citizens. There are adequate seating arrangements, but the system is grossly inefficient, since so many people converge there on any one day and some are told to come back another day.

Can’t someone in management come up with an idea about how to address this constant waiting to uplift a pension voucher? What happened to the system that was there before this present one?

In the public’s view, that was more acceptable.

What is it that is causing so many people to be there, thus overwhelming the system that is in place? Something needs to be done quickly. You will notice that it is mostly the older folks who are facing the brunt of these hardships.

One would have expected that with so many pensioners in Cabinet, the focus on making things easier for other pensioners would have been one of their major concerns. Yours faithfully, (Name and address provided)