Six-hour-long queue at ARMS office

After reading the report titled A Fast Track One-Hour Long Queue (August 16), I could not help but give a detailed description of my (and 700 or more other customers’) ordeal, when we queued up at the ARMS office at the premises of the Water Services Corporation on August 9.

I was clocked in at 9.36 a.m. and my ticket number was B467. May I add that there were three other queues with different letters too. My papers were in order and all I had to do was present them to the clerk which was done in a matter of five minutes maximum when it was my turn, which came after a super long wait of just over six – yes six – hours! I walked out at 4.05 p.m.

I do not blame the poor employees but I certainly blame the management or lack of it. No spokesman from any ministry or company is going to convince us customers and make it seem as though everything is under control when it clearly is not.

Also, the freephone number is always unobtainable and the e-mails go unanswered. All one gets is a stereotypical polite reply that the company will get back to you, which they do not. The journalist who wrote the piece should pay a visit to the office in Luqa and get the complaints straight from the horse’s mouth and not from people whose duty it is to defend their employer.

One solution is not opening one central premise but opening three to serve the north, south and central districts, while keeping Luqa as the main branch.

One thought came to mind while I was sitting and waiting... maybe I should invest in a mobile kiosk and park right there. Surely my services would be most welcome.