RGD still plagued by problems

Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter

THE MESSAGE on the Registrar General's Department (RGD) Web page was bold and screaming.

"Sent money June 18 for express service and still have gotten no reply yet!" and "The clock is ticking RGD! When will I get what I paid for? It's been over three weeks."

Howard Harvey sent his money to the Department, paying specially for express service on June 18. He did not expect to be kept waiting nearly a month to get his documents.

As time passed, the frantic messages appeared.

Eventually, when the RGD's response came, he got three birth certificates, although he had requested six copies. The RGD's express service promises all documents the same day or within 10 working days.

Despite this, he remained upbeat: "I can't say it was great (but) since I needed only one, I am not going to make a big deal about it," he told The Gleaner via e-mail.

Others told the same story during an informal e-mail survey carried out by The Gleaner or via messages left on the RGD's discussion Web site.

Some said they had waited between two weeks and four months for a response to questions on tracing family roots, requests for marriage, birth and death certificates or for changes to all three documents. Others, like Sandrene Spencer, said that they had been billed more than expected for particular services. "I never told the cashier that I wanted express service. They told me that the amount to get the certified copy of the birth certificate was $890.00 and I should pick it up in 10 working days, so I paid it.

"It was after I went there and it was not ready that I found out that it is in fact $390.00 to do regular service and $390.00 plus $500.00 for express. I then told the cashier that I want back my money ($500.00) as I did not ask for express service and worse, it was not ready on time. It would be very nice if I could be reimbursed my $500," she said.

Like customers who have complained of long lines and wasted hours at the RGD's head office at Twickenham Park, St. Catherine, survey participants said that they had a lengthy wait before the RGD acknowledged receipt of their requests and fulfilled orders.

Beresford Lewis, another customer, declared that on a scale of one to 10, with 10 meaning excellent and one meaning poor, "I will give them a three. I do not think they are helpful."

But the RGD's deputy chief executive officer Dawn Douglas, while stating that she needed to assess the specific cases to ascertain the problems, explained that there were other reasons for the build-up and complaints on the Web site. Among them is the need to conduct detailed research on some requests.

The RGD is working on increasing its capacity to check the on-line discussion site, she said. She added that in other cases, the waiting time was not met because of a shut-down of the RGD for part of April and May and an increase in the number of documents that could be requested over the Internet.

Previously, customers could only access birth certificates but marriage and death certificates have been added.

The RGD claims its service is hampered by persons who do not provide adequate information, were not registered or were registered under a christian name only, or have different names.

Mrs. Douglas explained that there had also been an increase in on-line requests in June. following a stakeholders meeting sponsored by the Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) and the RGD.

She added that there is now a special team dedicated to responding so, "once you make a request on-line, the response is immediate and you get a tracking number. I don't think you will get that problem again."

The teams will also write to applicants explaining why requests are delayed and necessary procedures.

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