July 5th
Frustrated by ‘ease’ of doing business
THE pressure some people see to get simple Government services done in this country is unbelievable. One of the duties of any Government is to enrich the lives of its citizens by making their lives easier, but this is not true in Trinidad and Tobago; the situation is quite the opposite. The factors that affect us are low productivity in the national labour force, corruption, Government bureaucracy and foreign exchange controls.
We have become accustomed to believing that the Government’s theory is to suffer the population so they feel grateful to get something simple done, after many years of waiting, that could have been done in a couple of days or a month. It is so difficult to get anything done in T&T that it seems commonplace to be disrespected at a Government office and get bad treatment, with the perception that we are bothering the public servant to actually do their job.
It has become so ingrained in our psyche that this is the normal treatment perpetuated on citizens. For example, a friend was so elated and thankful after receiving a renewed Woodbrook lease after running around for 14 years following the expiry of the previous lease. Worse still, residents of Bamboo have not had their leases renewed for well over 35 years, and many wonder whether they will live to see the new leases. This is the norm here in sweet T&T.
Meanwhile, siblings are losing their inheritance when there are joint deeds in place following the passing of the original lessee (parent). Remember, as an election ploy, just before every general election, new leases are being freely distributed to citizens in order to regularise their land tenure as an enticement to vote for the Government.
The issue that really bothers me now is the changing of the system at the Companies Registry. Initially, a person just had to complete the company’s annual return, Form 28, and file annually at the office on Lower Richmond Street. However, about three years ago, they increased the requirements and now two forms are required to be filed, forms 28 and 45. These forms could easily have been incorporated into one form.
To make matters worse, another Form 42 must be completed and signed in the presence of a commissioner of affidavits. This form is only to confirm that you are the owner of the shares of that company. So it is time-consuming that every year, you must complete this same process. This no doubt has created a lot of work for commissioners of affidavits, as well as attorneys, who definitely need to make more money on citizens’ heads.
The bureaucracy is so frustrating to complete the new forms. Instructions are barked at you from counter clerks and contribute to the confusion and general unpleasant atmosphere at the Companies Registry.
When Covid came, a new ‘online filing’ was created. The term ‘online’ gives one the impression that filings would be easier, but that’s not the case in the Companies Registry. After the decline in Covid cases, it has now gone back to the old system of ‘in-person filing’-parallel to the online system. This system frequently crashes as in December last year, it crashed, leaving everyone in limbo since no transactions could be completed.
A new system called ‘CROS’, which should have been more appropriately called ‘CROSS’, was introduced on February 1. It is a real cross to deal with! This new system was designed apparently to increase one’s blood pressure and give one a stroke by even more frustration. You first have to obtain an individual PIN number. The wait to get this individual PIN number is endless as I have applied for it over four months now, and I am still waiting for it.
If you have five companies, you are required to have five different e-mail addresses. How can you monitor five e-mail addresses? Whoever created this new system is definitely missing something between his/her ears.
That’s not all. The form must be filled out online, but you must go down to the Ministry of Legal Affairs and pay the fees in person. Only then can you complete the filing. However, you are still not done since the completed form must now be printed and taken down to the Companies Registry for stamping. What an elaborate web of horse manure that has been woven by the Companies Registry for businesses in T&T.
How can anybody ever talk about the ease of doing business here in T&T when the processes keep getting more and more difficult? Does anyone in this Government truly understand what the ease of doing business actually means?
Dr Neil Gosine Port of Spain