Man laments RGD ordeal for mother
This is an open letter to Deirdre English Gosse, CEO of the Registrar General’s Department (RGD).
I HAVE just read Mrs English Gosse’s response, published on August 16, 2013, to a People’s Report letter titled ‘Customer service hell’.
I need to bring to your attention a situation involving my mother, who has been trying to apply for a birth certificate for the past four years.
My mother was never registered by her mother, and at the age of 40, my mother is just starting to look about her birth certificate on her own. Frankly, it has been an ordeal. She has spent approximately $50,000 in processing and travel costs and still hasn’t been able to get her birth certificate.
She has been very patiently travelling from St Mary to Portmore to get information on the processing time. My mom’s mother died, and so, too, did her father. So it has been very difficult gathering the information being requested by your department. But she has.
She recently received a text message indicating that she should go to the Portmore branch of the RGD, just to be handed her mother’s birth certificate, and was told, “We will contact you again by text.”
Jamaica is a hard place in which to live. It is not economically feasible for its peo- ple to travel to hear, “We will text you again.” And travel costs, plus wait time, can be unproductive.
I know you are a busy person, with major cases every day, but I really need your help in this matter. If you or someone who oversees the records unit could contact my mother, it would be greatly appreciated. The only thing left for her to do is cry. Please respond so I may provide additional contact information.