Take a cue from Foreign Ministry queues

The Finance Minister said last week there were about 1.4 million public sector employees, one wonders whether this mega force is efficient enough to serve the needs of the people.

It was chaos on Friday at the Consular Division of the Foreign Ministry located on the second floor of the Ceylinco Building at Janadhipathi Mawatha. From various parts of the country hundreds of people came to collect their documents and attested certificates on a given day.

There was no proper procedure in place to fulfil the requirements of the people, except local security officials instructing them to line up in long queues.

Worst of all, COVID-19 regulations were disregarded as long queues developed at all counters within the office premises.

One person came from Galle. He said his whole day was spent waiting in long queues to collect his certificates, even though he was informed by text message from the department earlier that his documents could be collected on the following day.

Finally, the Police had to intervene to ensure normalcy as people continued to agitate over the chaotic situation. One of the agitators was heard asking: “Maybe we should invite the President to visit this office as he did once before when he inspected the Motor Traffic department head office following complaints of inefficiency.” Another angry complainant said: “He does not do that kind of visit anymore.”