Description

Five hours were not sufficient for people, who went to the branches of Residency Affairs Department in Farwaniya and Kuwait City, to carry out transactions. They had to stand in long queues under the scorching sun, and the counters were working at half capacity and were disproportionate to the rate of congestion.At Farwaniya Residency Affairs Department, the long queue and the waiting time standing under the scorching sun were attributed to the rigid routine and frustrating bureaucracy, as well as the fact that the employees did not take into consideration the interests and problems of the visitors.This is the normal attitude seen in departments that usually receive large number of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti visitors, including employers who could be individual entrepreneurs or companies.Majority of the visitors had been waiting at the location since 8 am, which was two hours before the office opens for the day’s business.The problem became more complicated when the staff distributed tokens to them, which were enough for only about half of the visitors. They ended up advising others to go home and return for the process the following morning.The employees were also threatening the visitors with statements such as, “If we hear any noise, we will stop the tokens”. The situation was not much different at the Department of Residence Affairs in Kuwait City, though it was a bit better.Standing in a queue under the scotching sun and the congestion at the department was similar to the scenario at Farwaniya Residency Affairs Department. The employees were equally unorganized and hostile, especially when they ordered the visitors to queue outside the building when the temperature was extremely hot.