The column for anyone fed up with bureaucracy, frustrated with delays or furious with poor service. Tell us your complaint and we'll try to fix it... TRAVEL BUG Reader Nahid Iyer was looking forward to a family trip to Amsterdam, Paris and London but was put off by what she claimed were rude and inefficient visa services at the Dutch consulate in Hong Kong. She first approached the consulate on May 17 to obtain visas for her two children. The officer there first mistook the dates of her travels and told her she was too late, then insisted she should have gone to the French consulate because she planned to spend one more day in France than the Netherlands. When the officer grudgingly accepted her family did need visas, he told her she must bring in her children in person. On a second trip, the South Bay resident brought 'a very reluctant six-year-old who could not understand why she had to miss school and a screaming 12-month-old who was going to the Netherlands consulate instead of having her morning nap'. Eventually, the papers were submitted. When she returned on May 25, the day she was told to collect her visas, she was told the documents were not ready. 'I did get the visas finally on the 27th,' she wrote. 'And the next day, I went to the British consulate, and that was simply unbelievable: I submitted my papers and they asked me to come back the same day to collect - complete with all that I wanted from an embassy: politeness, courtesy and promptness.' The Dutch consulate replies: 'We have taken your reader's complaint very seriously and we have thoroughly investigated the nature of the complaint and the course of events that led to it. We have followed up on this with the complainant and we hope that she and her family will have a very pleasant and enjoyable stay in the Netherlands.' PASSING ALL LOGIC Ted Sharp, of Sai Kung, lives in a restricted area of the district's country park and finds Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department operators hired to man the main access gate at Pak Tam Chung have no consistent policy in letting in or refusing entry to visitors. 'We have people with legitimate purposes refused entry, while on weekends, cars park in our village with no permits on them. Who let them in?' He says this amounts to a pattern of interference over the years and his neighbours have experienced similar problems. The latest annoyance happened more than a week ago when the Sai Kung resident called an electrician to replace a burned-out water heater at home. He said he had given all the necessary information to the Country Parks Office ahead of time but still the technician was not allowed in. They ended up having to negotiate for hours. 'Eventually, the electrician was allowed to enter the park and drive to my home to do the job,' he said. 'We have still not received any logical explanation for the actions of these petty-minded bureaucrats. 'To add insult to injury, on return to my village, I discovered that a car without any entry permit whatsoever was parked in my friend's parking space.' AFCD has promised to reply but had not done so at the time of publication. CARDINAL DELAY B.S. Bharwani was involved in a traffic accident on April 26 and his car was impounded by police for examination. He wants to know why the police will not release the vehicle examiner's report, which he needs for insurance purposes. 'My insurance company insists they must have the report from the police before they can pay for the repairs,' wrote the Mid-Levels reader. He wrote to the police traffic section on May 26 and received a phone call several days later saying the report was not ready and would take several more weeks until it was. 'The car has been examined and released. The concerned examiner must have already prepared notes to file a formal report. What takes so long?' Police say charges may be laid against individuals involved in the investigation and the report may be used as evidence. Its public relations bureau responds: 'In case prosecution is taken, the Motor Vehicle Examination Report will serve as evidence and can only be released either on conclusion of court proceedings or when the report is intended for use as defence of the charge and on application from the interested parties.' 'People with legitimate purposes are refused entry, while on weekends, cars park with no permits'
