THINGS IMPROVE! – A VIEW FROM INSIDE OUT- A DIASPORA SERIES

May 29, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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I heard the rustling in the dark. In the darkness that showered my room, I raised my hand from under my head and looked at my watch. It was 3. 30 am.
Who could be up this hour in the morning? I knew the tradition in the countryside of persons rising early. But at 3.30 am? That was way too early.
I got out of my head and opened the bedroom door.
The flood of light from the kitchen blinded me. My hostess stared at me. I stared back at her and wondered what she was doing up at this most unholy hour.
She was stirring a cup of tea. On the kitchen table were a few slices of bread, already layered with jam and nut butter.
“You are up early,” I said. “Taking a late midnight snack?” I asked.
“Yes” she answered, “I have to leave in about one hour’s time.”
“Where are you going so early?” I questioned.
The only reason I could think of as to why someone would have to leave so early would have been to catch a flight out. And there had been no conversation about that in the few days since my arrival.
She replied, “ I have to go and apply for my passport?’
“At 3.30 in the morning?” I asked.
I had read about the improvements at the passport office but I did not recall reading anything about them working around the clock.
“We have to leave early. If you do not arrive early you will not get through,” she explained.
I did not understand. Why would someone have to leave so early to go down to the passport office? Understandable there was a limit to the number of persons that could be attended to each day. But surely there had to be a system in place that would avoid persons having to line up from very early in the morning just to hand in their applications.
I was told that the car to take my hostess to the passport office would be arriving at 4.30 am. I decided that I would make the trip, since I wanted to have a first- hand look at this early queue which brought back memories of the eighties when persons had to line up outside Knowledge Sharing Institutes to purchase food items.
We left a little late and by the time we arrived at 5:45 there was already a long line. It stretched a fair distance along the road running alongside the passport office but a physical count showed that there were less than fifty persons.
I had not eaten before leaving home and having assured myself that my hostess was okay in the line, I left to get something to eat. Finding an open eatery at 6am in the morning is not an easy thing. And by the time I got back the line had stretched and had almost doubled.
I said to myself that people should not have to line up from so early just to get their passports. In the United States, you can mail your application and the new passport will be returned by mail to you.
As we waited in the line, the people began to chat and while my feet ached from the standing, the time passed quickly since the people, as most Guyanese do, began to make light of the fact that they had to come out so early. There was one particular guy who was funny and who had everyone cracking up with laughter with his stories.
That is one of great things about Guyanese: how they put up with so much and still find the time to joke about it.
The door to the passport office opened long before eight. This was something that impressed me and the line began to move swiftly and I mean swiftly. The staff were very helpful but the place was hot inside.
It was obvious that the passport office has to limit the number of applications it will receive each day because of the high demand for these services. One person said to me that this, the early lining up, is a daily occurrence but once you are in the building, the service is good. Good still means having to wait but it is better to be seated than standing.
It is obvious that there is a need for more staff and more equipment including more cameras which would allow for quicker processing.  Considering the time at which my hostess joined the line, it was remarkable that she got through so quickly. But no one should have to leave home so early just to ensure that their application is received.
As we left the passport office to return home, the sun was high. I longed for a refreshing bath and was unnerved when the driver said that he had to renew his vehicle license, something that is called a sticker in the US.
I began to protest at the thought of another two hours wait, this time in the heat. But I considered the sacrifices that had already been made by the others and kept quiet.
As we were heading to the location that sold the stickers, the guy kept saying that he hoped he would not have problems because he forgot to walk with his TIN number which I later learnt stood for Tax Identification Number.
He went into the office that sold the sticker and I lowered my seat and closed by eyes preparing for a long wait. Within two minutes he was out.
I presumed he was rejected because he did not have his TIN. But lo and behold he waved the sticker at me.
I was flabbergasted. “ You got through so quickly?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “Things improve!”
As we drove back home I kept asking the question, “ If a vehicle sticker can be had in two minutes, can better not be done to prevent persons having to leave their homes so early in the morning just to hand in their passport applications?”

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