PENNY WISE POUND STUPID?

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he process of paying or receiving money from government is often time consuming and frustrating. Repetitive paperwork adds to delays and disappointments. The average citizen who felt disgusted with the service was quick to blame scapegoats for their distress. It was convenient to point to the old bureaucratic colonial system that had been imposed on this Caribbean outpost. We continued to behave as if a specialized system of maintaining uniformity or authority within government with the rules that were handed down, were to serve in perpetuity without any change whatsoever.  But is there a need to conform ad infinitum, to rules that are no longer relevant? Did anyone ask whether we were dumb driven cattle that followed without questioning?

During the debate on the first budget presented by the new United Workers Party government elected in mid-2016, there was much superficial banter between MP’s on the matter of taxation, specifically on motor vehicles. No one took the time to examine the process of payment of motor vehicle and drivers’ licenses and the disgust which many persons experienced in the process. The ease of ‘giving to Caesar, the things that are Caesar’s,’ does not seem to be sufficiently appreciated by politicians and public servants. During the above debate, the former government failed to mention that they had introduced electronic systems for receiving payments from drivers and vehicle owners. Perhaps their minds were elsewhere.

As with so many matters concerning the efficiency of the public service, the system of paying or receiving money from government remains fraught with bottle necks. It seems that those who introduced the electronic systems for receipt of payments were either unwilling or incapable of thinking the whole process through to a time saving and logical conclusion. If they had, there would be no need to return for a simple driver’s license after a test of proficiency, and payment of the required fees.

Government would render to the people of Saint Lucia a great service if they were to put systems in place that would ensure the banishment of the words ‘come back in two weeks’ or some such formulation of disrespect.  People must get what they paid for at the moment of payment, no later! Efficiency is the best marker of progress, period!

The payment of a taxi driver’s license is a classic case. Even as government continues to tout the importance and value of tourism, it appears that the value of a taxi driver’s time has not been fully appreciated. The demise of the banana industry coincided with an increase in new taxis on the roadways. The taxi sector servicing tourism was assigned special blue number plates by the government, but it is questionable whether there has been sufficient training of taxi drivers as was done in the past, or a more efficient collection of their license fees.

Whatever meaningful consultation there has been between policy makers and the more experienced taxi drivers on the island is conjectural. So too are the experiences of certain functionaries in the hospitality industry, in the Ministry of Tourism. Had there been adequate consultation between taxi drivers and those responsible for issuing them licenses, the industry as a whole, would be standing on firmer ground. Every sector is crucial if tourism is to deliver its best returns to the citizens of Saint Lucia.   

Government must therefore re-examine procedures for the receipt of fees and licenses from taxi drivers and to see to it that civil servants who are employed in the Ministry of Tourism fully appreciate and support the new thrust to further develop tourism. If there are persons in the Ministry of Tourism who think that Sandals has too many hotels on the island, or that taxi drivers are of little value to the industry, they should say so and go, rather than stay and be an impediment.   

It makes little sense for anyone to set aside a day to visit Union in order to pay his taxi driver’s license, and to be told that he must first go to the Ministry of Tourism in Castries for a document which would certify that he is a bona fide taxi driver. Shouldn’t such information be shared electronically between the Road Transport Board, the Ministry of Tourism and the Police? How long does one have to wait at that Ministry before receiving the required document that proves he is a taxi driver? How long to return to Union and how long must he wait there before he can pay and receive his new taxi driver’s license? The process needs updating soonest, and we can do this without foreign help!

Still on the subject of Tourism there’s an equally important development which I urge the government to turn its attention to. It is the development of Hewanora Airport. We have heard it from the Prime Minister’s mouth how passé the island’s only international airport terminal has become. We have also learned of plans for the construction of a new airport terminal at Hewanora. What has been sorely lacking is information on a grand plan for the expansion and modernization of the entire airport infrastructure in the south. I’ve expressed in previous articles the crucial issue of the Vieux-Fort River and the threat it poses to Hewanora airport.

This time I wish to restate for those who may be listening that it’s past high time for a visionary government to develop runway ‘C’ derogatively called by some, the ‘kaka beuf’ stretch. Any plans for the medium to long term development of Hewanora airport must ensure that runway ‘C’ is developed as a landing and takeoff strip, in addition to the present runway ‘A.’ When that happens, Saint Lucia would be the only island in the East and South Caribbean with two available airstrips for takeoff and landing of jet aircraft. This idea is not new.

The government of Saint Lucia must be aware that the competition never sleeps.  As part of runway ‘C’ development, at least four things need to happen: 1. Relocation of some Free zone buildings possibly nearer to the former garbage site. 2. The air strip ought to be lengthened and strengthened. 3. The new terminal building ought to be located in the area where the free zone buildings now stand and 4. An airport bus link ought to be designed to connect the new terminal building with the existing terminal after renovation to the latter.

I trust that this meets the receptive ears of those empowered to act and that they fully appreciate the full import of the words ‘penny wise and pound stupid.’