No ease in payment lines

For the second day in a row, there was chaos at Government revenue centres across the country as dozens crowded the areas hoping to have their registration tags attached to their vehicles to avoid hefty fines.

With the deadline now gone, affected citizens outside the Barbados Licensing Authority’s headquarters in the Pine, St Michael have been expressing tremendous frustration with a tedious process, which they have described as inhumane and unfair.

On Tuesday, Barbadians consumed ice cream, snacks and large amounts of water while enduring sweltering heat outside the Pine complex. Many of them were enduring another day of long lines after their bid to make the September 30 deadline was unsuccessful.

Motorists line up outside of Licensing Authority today.

Allan Springer, a People’s Democratic Party (PdP)’s spokesperson, was stuck in the long lines and argued the problem was symptomatic of the current experience of Barbadians accessing Government services.

He conceded that in many cases Barbadians ought to have handled their affairs better, but chided Government for failing to provide enough information about the impending deadline.

“It seems to me there’s a case to be made that our current administration is okay for this kind of disturbance to happen to the lives of ordinary Barbadians, but also that if you don’t manage to register, you are then at the mercy of our police officers who don’t know the process you have gone through to get to this stage,” Springer contended.

He suggested that because the registration process is directly linked with mandatory motor vehicle insurance, the two entities should have collaborated better.

“A good administrative system would have seen insurance companies empowered to organise that sticker so that people don’t have to come and do this,” he suggested.

The challenges have also severely affected citizens trying to fulfil other key Government obligations.

Sevion Greene, a young Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute (SJPI) student who simply wanted to get his driver’s licence renewed, was stuck in Tuesday’s rush.

While he understood the reasons for the buildup, Greene indicated he was “annoyed” by certain issues.

“A lady came here and her registration was due in May and I was thinking to myself that it is kind of irresponsible to wait until the last minute. If you knew your renewal was due in May, you should take the responsibility upon yourself to take a day off in the week instead of joining the final hustle and bustle to cause people inconvenience,” suggested Greene.

Suzanne Lewis, meanwhile has been going to various offices of the Barbados Revenue Authority since last Friday to pay her taxes but found tremendous difficulty conducting her business.

“I don’t know why it happened but that is something they really need to work on because there is no way that all of us who have come here to pay taxes and be law abiding given our realities, that we are actually turned away and cannot pay the tax,” she told Barbados TODAY.

“I am a casual worker so if I do not work, I do not get paid. Every hour that I am in this line I am losing money. If there is a way that this could be cut down, I would appreciate that.”

Efforts to reach officials from the Ministry of Transport to find out whether an extension would be given to assist citizens were unsuccessful. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb