Golly Gee, our Road Traffic Department has just made a big advancement and moved from the 1950's to at least 1995, maybe 2000 even. I love the way Smith says that with a computer, you can make a change of address quickly. Wait till he discovers that computers can look up and sort data as well. Those new-fangled things will befuddle the Road Traffic department. Those handwritten forms pasted to the windscreen of the car are very modern as well.

P R O G R E S S even at a snails pace is progress. But automation needs proper management. Most times you go for your driver's license an they tell you the 'printer ainn working", or 'ad person who is do the license ain't ta work today". so you have to make several trips before you get straight. But most government online sites seems to be operating fairly good. Will mankind eventually live on the computer with no interpersonal interaction...just saying

We are computers! I'm almost certain God is a programmer (apologies to all atheists)

Someone with so much gray hair and lack of knowledge in the technology field should be retired by now, even worst should not be leading a department that highly depends on technology! But I gat it, I just remember which governing party we under. SMT!

Many need to move over and let the youngsters who know the latest and understand what's hip and standard in the markets procure and present plans for new implementations.

Part of business improvement is using your emoyees insight.

Young men are known for their strength, older men with grey hairs are known for their wisdom. Since God is older than all of us and has wisdom and strength we should not push those with grey heads aside for the quick fingers and strong backs, until their time is done.

Changes proposed are certainly welcomed.

Now if we can "scrape" that mirrored reflective covering from the cashiers' booth at government facilities like the Road Traffic Department we'd really be saying something positive about customer service, accountability and transparency in public institutions...

Hopefully that's not too much to ask for.....

Yes, get rid of those awful reflective coverings at the windows; I like to see who I'm giving my money to, thank-you. More cashiers too; serving one person at a time is S-L-O-W. Please get a microphone for the lady who calls out the names for licence-pick-up. Can be noisy in there and difficult to hear. Finally, please FIX THE A/C SYSTEM. Nothing but hot air blowing 95% of the time.

In the main time local businesses and employees alike, are starting to feel the effects of the new minimum wage law. One major building store has put all its line staff on reduced days. Some persons are working 3 day a week and others four. A lumber company as cut its sales and delivery staff from 25 to 20. Someone who worked there says he was making $175.00 a week. He said that he use to make $20-$30 a day in tips so that was an additional $100.00 average he was taking home. Since he was one of the last hired, Saturday was his last day. Now he has no income. Fast food chains are also adjusting their line staff and considering some price increases to make up for the increase in labor costs. One chicken franchise, that is already struggling because its staff is well unionized cannot afford to increase its prices and will have no choice but to reduce staff. A local contractor says he use to take boys straight out of high school and pay them $175 a week as unskilled workers. "once they learn something, they become semi-skill and go anywhere from $200-$250 a week and continue to raise up. Now I can't hire some one I gatta train and pay them $210.00 a week because that mean I gatta raise my semi skill worker too. A straw vendor says she have a girl that would come in three or four days a week and work the stall while she do other things. Sometimes she make $200 in sales and sometimes she doesn't make anything. So now she have to reduce the days she come in, even though the girl is her grand daughter, or make other arrangements,

The really sad part is that one cannot live reasonably on that sort of money. Something has to be done to rescue the unskilled working class, which is the majority of the population.

Minimum wage is really for someone starting out in the job market. Usually they still live at home and their paycheck is for their personal expenses. What is really sad is when you see a single mother with two, three, four children, applying for a job that pays minimum wage and she have to pay someone to keep the children while she is working. Then another situation is when someone has been in the job field for five, six, seven years and they also applying for a job that pays minimum wage. Their reason is they cannot find anything else to do and they could at least buy food with minimum wage.

Talk about distraction!! How did the subject go from computerisation of the Road Traffic Dept. to minimum wage!! ?? Does anyone have any idea of how long this modernisation has been talked about?. I have been going to RTD for 44years and it has only deteriorated over that period of time. And this is the third biggest money maker for the country? My heart aches for the terrible working conditions of the staff there. I know of a Bahamian computer company that had put in proposals to modernise the Dept on at least 3 occasions over a possible 25year period and each time their proposal was rejected in favour of someone else. Whatever happened to those companies? and now they are dealing with a NZ company - Bahamianisation at all cost - once again - NO!

8.3 Million dollars to an unknown company from New Zealand - Please investigate these guys and tell me where the other $5M gone