Unmannerly, unprofessional, rude, obnoxious SERVICE in T&T - Humiliating encounter with Customs officer THE EDITOR: Fourteen years ago (May 15, 2000), in a landmark decision of the Court of Appeal delivered by then Appeal Court Justice Mustapha Ibrahim, strong advice was rendered to all officers of the State, especially those who wear uniforms. Ibrahim at the time was delivering judgment in the matter of Ramnarine Maharaj vs the Attorney General. The issue was the seizure of goods imported by used car dealer the late Ramnarine Maharaj. The court held that Customs officer Carlos Renwick was wrong when he seized the goods of Maharaj without lawful authority and ordered that the appellant be compensated for such unlawful seizure and detention of his goods. Ibrahim ended his judgment with a stern warning: “Before parting with this appeal, I would like to say a word to the Customs Department and to other government departments that are in similar circumstance. For example the Immigration Department, where the laws entrust them with powers, great care must be taken by them in due exercise of the powers to ensure that they properly understand the basis on which those powers are entrusted and are to be exercised, for great hardship and embarrassment must be suffered by the citizen if the powers are not exercised in accordance with law, as in the case here” Justice Ibrahim, then learned chairman of the Appeal Tribunal, went further to add: “To accuse someone of carrying on his business in a manner contrary to law and to lay a criminal charge against such a person by the person making that allegation when in fact it is not so, may cause incalculable harm to such a person for which he may never be adequately compensated.” I make reference to the foregoing because of an experience on my return from a trip abroad about two weeks ago. I arrived at 11.30 pm and did not leave the airport until 2 o’clock the next morning, because of the high-handed and arrogant attitude of a senior officer at the Customs Department. My family was made to go from one area to the next, as were most of the passengers, and then had to endure the embarrassment of exposing our entire luggage for all to see. The arrogance and conduct of this senior officer were very embarrassing as his search was conducted in full view of all other users of the airport that night. He herded the passengers from one station to the next as if we were animals, with “go here; go there, this way, that way...” It was humiliating and belittling. That kind of treatment emasculates a man of the dignity he is so proud of when in the company of his family. In America, as in any developed country, if a search is to be conducted on the luggage of a passenger, that search is done in the privacy of a room out of the view of the other passengers. I was treated like a common criminal, as if I was a terrorist. In the end, I was asked to pay $120 in duty for clothes that I bought for myself. I was charged $108 in VAT, which is no way close to the 15 percent that is permitted in law. When I protested the surcharge, I was told that I can do what I want. I refer to this experience so as to make the travelling public aware of their rights as citizens with respect to the amount of allowance that a returning resident from vacation is entitled to. It is my hope that this will prevent the abuse of power by Customs officers at the airport. Also, the Customs Department will now be aware that the travelling public is knowledgeable of their rights which cannot be abused at the whim and fancy of a uniform-wearing official. Better still, the Ministry of Trade should publish in the daily newspapers the rights of a citizen upon returning from vacation abroad with particular reference to allowable personal effect. Believe me, for most people returning from a trip abroad it is traumatic just thinking about encountering some officer who may want to “pull rank”. Robert Ramsamooj newsday.co.tt/letters/0,194951.html
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 13:03:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015