Bella
15-07-2007, 03:37 PM
This is from Today's Guardian. Peter Quentrell-Thomas' column. Enjoy
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No hope; prodigal son canââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t return
This is an actual e-mail I received from a reader. As funny as it isâ₠¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¦It speaks volumes about how far away from 2020 we are.
And not one politician is promising to reform the attitude of the people in the public service. Some days I really think there is no hope.
Various members of my family made the decision a few years back, when crime began to spiral to migrate, but the plan was always to †œcome homeâ₠¬Ã‚ after we equipped our children with whatever opportunities we could garner for success in their own lives.
My brother just returned from spending a week in Trinidad and Tobago, bonding with my father who still lives there.
Glad to be home and wanting to ensure he has all the tools he needs to return to T&T life in a few years, he decided to spend his first day renewing his driverÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s permit, obtaining his new birth certificate, getting his ID card and renewing his recently-expired passport.
But what happened made him believe he may never return to T&T again.
Bright and early he went to the Licensing Office in Cross Crossing, went through the whole process, and at the last stageÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â‚¬ÂÂthe cashierââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â‚¬ÂÂhe got his slap in the face.
He was told the fee to renew his permit was $1,000. †œIsnâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€ ¾Ã‚¢t the fee normally $250,ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â he asked?
†œYes, but for people living in T&T,â₠¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ he was told. He had to pay a penalty (four times as much?) because heâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s a †œforeigner.Ãƒà ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚à ‚Â
He was told if he didnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t like it, he could drive on his Canadian permit for up to three months.
Well, it wasnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t worth it for one week, so after wasting over an hour, he decided to get his ID card.
Cancelled citizenship
He waited for service in the office and was eventually told they couldnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t find him on the system.
They refused to believe he was actually a Trinidadian. He insisted he was, and half-an-hour later they found him on a cancelled list.
†œCancelled?Ãƒà ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚à ‚ How could he be cancelled? He wasnââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t dead.
No, but upon hearing from neighbours in the village that he had migrated, the EBC cancelled his citizenship. And mine, apparently.
No notice was sent to my fatherÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s house, which is my brotherââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s permanent address. They just cancelled it. He protested and was redirected to another office for assistance.
He got there just about noon and interrupted the woman police constable who carried on her entire conversation with him firmly holding on to her newspapers and occasionally lifting her eyes to him before going back to reading.
When my brother explained his situation to her and whom he needed to see, the conversation went like this:
WPC: She on lunch.
My Bro: When is lunch over?
WPC: When she done eat, I suppose.
My Bro: And what time is that?
WPC: Whenever she done eat.
My Bro: So what time is she coming back?
WPC: When lunch done.
My Bro: Which is?
WPC: Lunch done when lunch done.
My Bro: So what time, should I come back?
WPC: You could come back anytime you want. Is a free country.
My Bro: I just want to know when I can see this woman.
WPC: Well, she should be back at around one oâ₠™clock.
My Bro: Thank you.
ID approval
Of course, at 1:30 he was still sitting there in front of the WPC with no sign of the officer. He again approached the WPC to be told the woman was back and in the washroom. For 30 minutes?
My brother said he considered telling them about the virtues of fibre.
He eventually met her, only to be told that before she could grant approval for an ID card, he had to prove he became a Canadian citizen after dual citizenship came into effect.
She added that she needed to see his original Canadian citizenship documents, not the citizenship card, but the full certificate.
†œDe one with the whole Parliament on it, not de half Parliament.ââ ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ
Nothing my brother said would change her mind. Apparently, the laws of T&T are very clear on this requirement.
Still the optimist, my brother went to the office to see about his birth certificate (because he cannot get a passport without one).
The fellow there laughed at him because, †œde machine breakdown.ââ ¬ÂÂÂ
My brother was told to come back in four days. He asked what time they opened and was told if he was planning to come at opening time, he might as well not bother, because he wonââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t be seen, as his number would be too far down the line.
He found out that they gave out numbers about 30 minutes before opening. So he was willing to come back then.
The fellow laughed at him again, telling him that there is a line-up and he has to come in even earlier to get a decent number.
†œWhat time?ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â my brother asked. †œWell,â € said the fellow, †œpeople does start lining up around two in de morning.ââ‚ ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ
My brother came back to Canada and for the first time in his life, referred to somewhere other than T&T as home.
He said that as much as he misses T&T, it is good to come home. T&T, apparently, doesnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t want people to come back.
Just a thought!
©2004-2005 Trinidad
---------------
No hope; prodigal son canââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t return
This is an actual e-mail I received from a reader. As funny as it isâ₠¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¦It speaks volumes about how far away from 2020 we are.
And not one politician is promising to reform the attitude of the people in the public service. Some days I really think there is no hope.
Various members of my family made the decision a few years back, when crime began to spiral to migrate, but the plan was always to †œcome homeâ₠¬Ã‚ after we equipped our children with whatever opportunities we could garner for success in their own lives.
My brother just returned from spending a week in Trinidad and Tobago, bonding with my father who still lives there.
Glad to be home and wanting to ensure he has all the tools he needs to return to T&T life in a few years, he decided to spend his first day renewing his driverÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s permit, obtaining his new birth certificate, getting his ID card and renewing his recently-expired passport.
But what happened made him believe he may never return to T&T again.
Bright and early he went to the Licensing Office in Cross Crossing, went through the whole process, and at the last stageÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â‚¬ÂÂthe cashierââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â‚¬ÂÂhe got his slap in the face.
He was told the fee to renew his permit was $1,000. †œIsnâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€ ¾Ã‚¢t the fee normally $250,ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â he asked?
†œYes, but for people living in T&T,â₠¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ he was told. He had to pay a penalty (four times as much?) because heâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s a †œforeigner.Ãƒà ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚à ‚Â
He was told if he didnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t like it, he could drive on his Canadian permit for up to three months.
Well, it wasnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t worth it for one week, so after wasting over an hour, he decided to get his ID card.
Cancelled citizenship
He waited for service in the office and was eventually told they couldnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t find him on the system.
They refused to believe he was actually a Trinidadian. He insisted he was, and half-an-hour later they found him on a cancelled list.
†œCancelled?Ãƒà ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚à ‚ How could he be cancelled? He wasnââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t dead.
No, but upon hearing from neighbours in the village that he had migrated, the EBC cancelled his citizenship. And mine, apparently.
No notice was sent to my fatherÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s house, which is my brotherââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s permanent address. They just cancelled it. He protested and was redirected to another office for assistance.
He got there just about noon and interrupted the woman police constable who carried on her entire conversation with him firmly holding on to her newspapers and occasionally lifting her eyes to him before going back to reading.
When my brother explained his situation to her and whom he needed to see, the conversation went like this:
WPC: She on lunch.
My Bro: When is lunch over?
WPC: When she done eat, I suppose.
My Bro: And what time is that?
WPC: Whenever she done eat.
My Bro: So what time is she coming back?
WPC: When lunch done.
My Bro: Which is?
WPC: Lunch done when lunch done.
My Bro: So what time, should I come back?
WPC: You could come back anytime you want. Is a free country.
My Bro: I just want to know when I can see this woman.
WPC: Well, she should be back at around one oâ₠™clock.
My Bro: Thank you.
ID approval
Of course, at 1:30 he was still sitting there in front of the WPC with no sign of the officer. He again approached the WPC to be told the woman was back and in the washroom. For 30 minutes?
My brother said he considered telling them about the virtues of fibre.
He eventually met her, only to be told that before she could grant approval for an ID card, he had to prove he became a Canadian citizen after dual citizenship came into effect.
She added that she needed to see his original Canadian citizenship documents, not the citizenship card, but the full certificate.
†œDe one with the whole Parliament on it, not de half Parliament.ââ ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ
Nothing my brother said would change her mind. Apparently, the laws of T&T are very clear on this requirement.
Still the optimist, my brother went to the office to see about his birth certificate (because he cannot get a passport without one).
The fellow there laughed at him because, †œde machine breakdown.ââ ¬ÂÂÂ
My brother was told to come back in four days. He asked what time they opened and was told if he was planning to come at opening time, he might as well not bother, because he wonââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t be seen, as his number would be too far down the line.
He found out that they gave out numbers about 30 minutes before opening. So he was willing to come back then.
The fellow laughed at him again, telling him that there is a line-up and he has to come in even earlier to get a decent number.
†œWhat time?ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â my brother asked. †œWell,â € said the fellow, †œpeople does start lining up around two in de morning.ââ‚ ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ
My brother came back to Canada and for the first time in his life, referred to somewhere other than T&T as home.
He said that as much as he misses T&T, it is good to come home. T&T, apparently, doesnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t want people to come back.
Just a thought!
©2004-2005 Trinidad