Time to upgrade Department of Inland Revenue

Fri, Nov 11. 2011

Editor: As a concerned citizen abroad, I must say that I am very shocked and disturbed by the level of support we have in some of our governmental organizations. One in particular I am writing about is our Department of Inland Revenue. It is simply disappointing that for the amount of money we are paying as tax-payers to the state that the licensing authority’s system apparently has no “back-up”.{{more}} What a shame for them and also for us! I can afford to speak this clearly as I pay taxes, even though abroad, via house and land tax driver’s license, vehicle tax etc.

This week I requested to renew my driver’s license, only to be told that the system had crashed and there were no photos on file. “What?” Are they trying to tell us that with all the money we are paying there is only one pathetic system operational? What kind of “Mickey Mouse” organization are they running, or is it a “mauby shop” operation? They mentioned that the only possibility is to issue a letter stating that my license is up to date. Definitely a double “WHAT!” How can they tell us that when we are in need of something of the sort there is simple no parallel system in case of emergencies, in this case system crashes? This kind of response raises eyebrows as to what else goes wrong in this place. We need to be confident that when we pay our taxes and other payments that proper record keeping is done. Is it that this is the only system that is not backed, or is it within the entire operation? How many other governmental organizations are faced with these kinds of dilemmas?

I ask these questions trying to understand if our country is simply living in the past, and if it does not wish to be in the growing world where there is a “need” for technology, which should be embraced, and possibly make multiple departments and divisions more efficient in any institute, be it private or public. Furthermore, because there are so many technological options, the hardware and applications are inexpensive, so I can’t simply comprehend where the matter lies. The department heads need to be more proactive and begin to think outside the box as they say, be open to ideas from young upcoming geniuses, whom they can learn a thing or two from, instead of being hard-headed and stubborn. We need to look at intelligent ways we can progress into the future and uplift our standards and at the same time raise our country from such a low embarrassing level. GOD bless!

AW