Can somebody please advise who is the Registrar General or Deputy Registrar-Papua New Guinea? I have been going to and from the country’s ONLY Civil Registry Office at Boroko since I lodged forms for two birth certificates for my son and mum in September last year. To date, that process is yet to be complete. Two weeks after lodging the forms, I started following up and each time I was told the boss was yet to put his/her signature. After a month, I was told the certificates were ready for pick up and on the day of collection, after standing on the line for almost an hour, I was told the certificates were no way to be found. I stood for an extra hour to give them more time to continue looking, two officers searched everywhere, came back and advised that they couldn’t find the certificates. I was frustrated. One of them then asked if I could lodge in new forms, I told him that I will not fill in new forms and if they could just re-print new certificates from the information that’s already in the system. He and others told me that they ran out of ink. I couldn’t believe my ears, as if the PNG Civil Registry was located in the remote jungles of Telephomin, Ambunti-Drekikir or Menyama. For goodness sake, we are right in the heart of the capital, Port Moresby yet we cannot find ink for the printer. I felt like walking over to Brian Bell and buying them ink, however I let it go. An officer collected my details, phone number etc… and promised to get the certificates reprinted and signed during the weekend and call the following week for pick up. I continued to do my follow up and the same cycle continues, the certificates are ready but still waiting for the boss to sign. By the end of December after many calls, I fronted up at the office and was told to return in the second week of January 2014. I returned as per the date on the notice outside their office and with so many other people who like me were complaining, grumbling etc…but only to be advised by the securities to go away and come back the next day. I demanded to see an officer explaining that I was only there to pick up my certificates which were ready. One of the officers saw me from inside and came out, I explained the same thing, she went in and came out with my certificates. Some days after that I went to Foreign Affairs to lodge passports, an officer there told me that though, I had signatures on both certificates, the Registrar General or the Deputy Registrar’s stamp was missing on one of the certificates, something I didn’t realize. Hence, I only lodged one application for the passport. Last week Wednesday, I returned to Civil Registry for the stamp but was told that the registrar wasn’t at work and the stamp was locked in his/her office. I was told to return this week. I went in this morning and was told again that the stamp is still locked inside. It was 10:30am, couldn’t wait any longer and left for my work. This time, I left the certificate with one of the officers to get the registrar’s stamp whenever that office is open, hopefully it opens up and that the certificate doesn’t go missing. The ONLY Civil Registry office in Papua New Guinea where birth, death and marriage certificates are registered but work comes to a STAND STILL because the ONLY important stamp is locked inside, wonder if there is a deputy or a third person to do the job. How hard is it to drive over to where the bosses are, get the key, unlock the office and get the VITAL stamp. Following are my suggestions to improve PNG Civil Registry Office. 1. Make sure there is always a second or third person inline to sign certificates, if the boss is not around. Having to go to and from the same office for a signature or stamp is unacceptable, very lame excuse. This is the only office in PNG where birth, death and marriage certificates are registered/printed, some people fly in from outside POM just to have these certificates hence work must continue. 2. Provide basic computer skills training for your officers collecting data so that there is efficiency. At the moment, it takes almost an hour for one person to be served. 3. Come up with an efficient way of collating data from the initial process of receiving information from the public to storing information in the computer to print, signature, stamp and collection. So that you don’t go searching for certificate when a client fronts up at your office. 4. The major function of your office is to register and print certificates, hence ensure you have important stationary like ink, paper etc..are in stock at all times. Work has to stop due to lack of ink is unacceptable, very lame. 5. If you are collecting urgent fees(K25), it should also show in the outcome, no need to pay that fee when you still collect your certificates some months later. 6. Start work at 8:00am and work right through to 4:06pm so that you can get to work on many certificates as you can. If you are closing at12:00pm, there should be difference on the output of work. Call me whatever you want to, EVERY second person standing on the line outside PNG Civil Registry has his/her own story about that office, the EXREME version of how INCOMPETENT many government offices are. Many of these things don’t require rocket science, it just needs PROPER MANAGEMENT, EVERYTHING FALLS BACK ON LEADERSHIP, THE PERSON IN CHARGE.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 02:31:06 +0000