PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams met with representatives of the Ministries of Justice and Labour to look into the reasons Brooks Tower Accord (BTA) applicants have to "stand in long lines, some for 12 hours, before the relevant offices open, to get service.
In a press release issued via the Government Information Service (GIS) on Friday, the Prime Minister also announced that it had been decided to extend the exercise at the Labour Office by four weeks and that plans were afoot to open branches of the Receiver's Office and of the Civil Registry in Simpson Bay.
She said she had observed the situation outside the Labour Office "personally" on Tuesday morning and had inquired about the situation immediately.
"After receiving reports and additional information, that it was not much better at the Immigration Office, I called an urgent meeting of both ministries involved [Justice and Labour] that same afternoon.
"After getting an update on what was taking place and the issue being that persons were told that all the intake of applicants (extensions and others) that happened at Immigration, that these persons could only get their Labour registration up to Friday, January 7, my position in the meeting was that regardless to what the argumentation was, the situation that manifested itself was not allowed to continue and that the period of intake at the Labour Office needed to be extended to accommodate persons who were part of the process and needed to complete all the steps," she said.
She added that it had been agreed during that meeting that the extension would be granted and those persons who were in the process would have approximately four weeks to complete that part of the process at the Labour Office.
"Things have improved somewhat. However, I am still of the opinion that government cannot tolerate this type of madness," she said.
Queues are an issue and government has plans in an advanced stage to open branches of the Receiver's Office and of the Civil Registry in Simpson Bay.
"The aforementioned would alleviate long queues at these offices in Philipsburg, as well as ease traffic congestion. Persons won't have to drive all the way to Philipsburg to conduct their business. This will also reflect positively where productivity is concerned," Wescot-Williams said.
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