‘The licensing officer was curiously agitated, for no reason, I can fathom, and cut me off at one point.’
Part 2 of 2
By Neela Ramsundar
I got to the Caroni Licensing Office at 10.15 am My appointment was at 10:30 a.m. It was raining and dreary. There were cracks of thunder every so often. I drove the entire parking lot before catching an available park far from the building. I say “caught” because there were about four cars competing with me looking for parks at that exact time. Seems the minister boasting about the problem of parking being eliminated at the Caroni office (during its opening ceremony in 2017) might have been a bit presumptuous.
I grabbed my umbrella and locked my car. I was using the pedestrian walkway to get to the building, but this pavement ended before I could get there… unless I wanted to walk on grass and mud. How odd for a new “state of the art” building! I had to step down unto the road (which I knew had distracted drivers looking for parks), hoping I didn’t get “bounce down”
When I got to the building, a female security guard was manning the entrance door. I had to carefully walk over an undulating surface of what looked like concrete brick pavers so I didn’t twist my ankle. I wondered whether there were any OSHA concerns over this.
Myself and several others with 10.30 am appointments were made to line up next to the building. The front of the building had no shelter from the rain, not even the hand washing station. People were getting wet and social distancing did not allow umbrella users to share the same. It would have been so simple for MOWT to order e.g. inexpensive but stylish aluminium canopies to be installed at the front and over the hand washing station, but I guess there’s no one to think about these “little things”.
When allowed to go inside, I was asked to use a sanitisation station where my temperature was also taken. Then on to a line for the receptionist booth. The receptionist who attended to me was sniffing and rubbing his nose. His eyes seems watery too. I was double-masked and thankfully, he was also masked. But I was pretty nervous about that. I knew it could just be sinuses due to e.g., the Sahara dust. Sigh, this is the times we live in.
The receptionist checked my paperwork and found all to be in order. He told me to go to a nearby check-in both and check-in. I did and got an odd check-in number with letters and numbers which disappeared pretty fast. I couldn’t remember part of it. I looked for a printout of the check-in number, and checked my phone for an email, but got nothing. I was told to go sit in the general sitting area in the middle and watch the screen for my check-in number.
The sitting area had a lot of people. There were no social distancing signs on the seat, but I proudly observed the public was voluntarily practising social distancing nonetheless.
I waited endlessly for what I remembered of my number to be called: one hour and five minutes. A CSR checked my paperwork again, wrote some stuff on my Form 4 and told me to head over to the cashier to pay. I observed about seven cashing stations, but there was only one cashier. I was the third person in line to cash and that took 10 minutes.
Next, I was told to head over to the front section of the building where the photographs were being taken and the licenses collected. At 11.52 am a polite lady came out to address all the persons sitting in this area. She said she wished to apologise for the delays. She explained that they had new machines to print the new driver’s license (highly touted by Minister Sinanan, redesigned cards replacing the old driver’s permit) and that there were teething problems. She also said they were out of “laminate” and that IT persons were assisting to resolve the issues.
It had been about a week since the new driver’s license was launched, so I was surprised to hear of the “teething issues”. I drew a deep breath and settled in my seat.
I was called at 12.34 pm to have my photograph taken. I was asked to look at a screen and verify the information that will be appearing on my new driver’s license were correct. Atlas, it wasn’t. I had submitted paperwork from an optometrist indicating I had a procedure done to correct my vision, and that I no longer needed corrective lenses. The information on the screen still showed I needed corrective lenses. Apparently, a licensing officer needed to sign off on the change, but it was not shown to the officer.
A huge problem arose when I was told by the attending licensing officer that I needed the doctor who performed the corrective surgery to certify my vision. I did that procedure abroad. If I accepted that statement at face value, I knew I would be leaving without my new driver’s permit and probably unable to drive for quite a while. I had to argue my case with her.
I explained quite logically that a medical professional of this country qualified to do so certified my vision and moreso, the paperwork I submitted was the norm in that other persons I knew persons had recently submitted the same document and received their renewals without the exception for corrective lenses. The licensing officer was curiously agitated, for no reason I can fathom, and cut me off at one point. She told me harshly to cover one of my eyes and read the letters on an eye chart behind her. I did. She said to do the same with the other eye. I was doing so, then she cut me off and said okay go back to get my photograph taken. And that was that. I said thank you kindly and left.
The ladies taking the photographs were quite pleasant. I got my new driver’s license at 1.15 p.m. I remember Minister Sinanan saying it took five minutes to print the new driver’s license. While that may be true, he was certainly misleading us if he wanted us to believe it did not take inordinately long to get through all their procedures at even a state-of-the-art facility.
If I might add that the photograph on the new license is smaller than on the old driver’s permit. Further, there is a red swirl design running across our faces on this new card, partially hampering the view of our face. The photos on the old driver’s permit were certainly bigger and clearer.
If I had to rate MOWT’s Caroni Licensing Office for their renewal process, I would award them two stars out of five. They can do much better and should aim to cut that time in at least half. Be safe T&T.
Disclaimer:The contents of this article are for general informational purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an Attorney-at-Law of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred as a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
‘Teething Issues’ With My New Driver’s Licence
‘The licensing officer was curiously agitated, for no reason, I can fathom, and cut me off at one point.’
Part 2 of 2
I got to the Caroni Licensing Office at 10.15 am My appointment was at 10:30 a.m. It was raining and dreary. There were cracks of thunder every so often. I drove the entire parking lot before catching an available park far from the building. I say “caught” because there were about four cars competing with me looking for parks at that exact time. Seems the minister boasting about the problem of parking being eliminated at the Caroni office (during its opening ceremony in 2017) might have been a bit presumptuous.
I grabbed my umbrella and locked my car. I was using the pedestrian walkway to get to the building, but this pavement ended before I could get there… unless I wanted to walk on grass and mud. How odd for a new “state of the art” building! I had to step down unto the road (which I knew had distracted drivers looking for parks), hoping I didn’t get “bounce down”
When I got to the building, a female security guard was manning the entrance door. I had to carefully walk over an undulating surface of what looked like concrete brick pavers so I didn’t twist my ankle. I wondered whether there were any OSHA concerns over this.
Myself and several others with 10.30 am appointments were made to line up next to the building. The front of the building had no shelter from the rain, not even the hand washing station. People were getting wet and social distancing did not allow umbrella users to share the same. It would have been so simple for MOWT to order e.g. inexpensive but stylish aluminium canopies to be installed at the front and over the hand washing station, but I guess there’s no one to think about these “little things”.
When allowed to go inside, I was asked to use a sanitisation station where my temperature was also taken. Then on to a line for the receptionist booth. The receptionist who attended to me was sniffing and rubbing his nose. His eyes seems watery too. I was double-masked and thankfully, he was also masked. But I was pretty nervous about that. I knew it could just be sinuses due to e.g., the Sahara dust. Sigh, this is the times we live in.
The receptionist checked my paperwork and found all to be in order. He told me to go to a nearby check-in both and check-in. I did and got an odd check-in number with letters and numbers which disappeared pretty fast. I couldn’t remember part of it. I looked for a printout of the check-in number, and checked my phone for an email, but got nothing. I was told to go sit in the general sitting area in the middle and watch the screen for my check-in number.
The sitting area had a lot of people. There were no social distancing signs on the seat, but I proudly observed the public was voluntarily practising social distancing nonetheless.
I waited endlessly for what I remembered of my number to be called: one hour and five minutes. A CSR checked my paperwork again, wrote some stuff on my Form 4 and told me to head over to the cashier to pay. I observed about seven cashing stations, but there was only one cashier. I was the third person in line to cash and that took 10 minutes.
Next, I was told to head over to the front section of the building where the photographs were being taken and the licenses collected. At 11.52 am a polite lady came out to address all the persons sitting in this area. She said she wished to apologise for the delays. She explained that they had new machines to print the new driver’s license (highly touted by Minister Sinanan, redesigned cards replacing the old driver’s permit) and that there were teething problems. She also said they were out of “laminate” and that IT persons were assisting to resolve the issues.
It had been about a week since the new driver’s license was launched, so I was surprised to hear of the “teething issues”. I drew a deep breath and settled in my seat.
I was called at 12.34 pm to have my photograph taken. I was asked to look at a screen and verify the information that will be appearing on my new driver’s license were correct. Atlas, it wasn’t. I had submitted paperwork from an optometrist indicating I had a procedure done to correct my vision, and that I no longer needed corrective lenses. The information on the screen still showed I needed corrective lenses. Apparently, a licensing officer needed to sign off on the change, but it was not shown to the officer.
A huge problem arose when I was told by the attending licensing officer that I needed the doctor who performed the corrective surgery to certify my vision. I did that procedure abroad. If I accepted that statement at face value, I knew I would be leaving without my new driver’s permit and probably unable to drive for quite a while. I had to argue my case with her.
I explained quite logically that a medical professional of this country qualified to do so certified my vision and moreso, the paperwork I submitted was the norm in that other persons I knew persons had recently submitted the same document and received their renewals without the exception for corrective lenses. The licensing officer was curiously agitated, for no reason I can fathom, and cut me off at one point. She told me harshly to cover one of my eyes and read the letters on an eye chart behind her. I did. She said to do the same with the other eye. I was doing so, then she cut me off and said okay go back to get my photograph taken. And that was that. I said thank you kindly and left.
The ladies taking the photographs were quite pleasant. I got my new driver’s license at 1.15 p.m. I remember Minister Sinanan saying it took five minutes to print the new driver’s license. While that may be true, he was certainly misleading us if he wanted us to believe it did not take inordinately long to get through all their procedures at even a state-of-the-art facility.
If I might add that the photograph on the new license is smaller than on the old driver’s permit. Further, there is a red swirl design running across our faces on this new card, partially hampering the view of our face. The photos on the old driver’s permit were certainly bigger and clearer.
If I had to rate MOWT’s Caroni Licensing Office for their renewal process, I would award them two stars out of five. They can do much better and should aim to cut that time in at least half. Be safe T&T.
Copyright © 2022 Neela Ramsundar, LL.B (HONS), L.E.C is a Civil Litigation Attorney at Law & Certified Mediator.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for general informational purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an Attorney-at-Law of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred as a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Click here to read part one