Exemptions 2.0?

THE ONLINE portal launched by the Ministry of National Security to manage border exemption applications for the first time provides a single, universal, uniform means through which all can apply.

To that extent, it is a much-needed update of what has essentially been an arbitrary process, despite Government’s avowals otherwise. The simple portal has the benefit of placing all applications into a single electronic window that can time-stamp filings, making it easier for officials to prioritise the earliest applications.

It can also weed out duplications and address the clutter caused by multiple correspondence from applicants who, perhaps seeking to advance their case, ironically do the opposite by clogging the system.

The question is, if this measure was introduced only yesterday, how has the ministry managed this process up until now? Did it not have a system, and an electronic one at that, through which it was processing e-mails addressed to the minister?

A website does not remove the need for transparency. Government still has a duty to furnish comprehensively and clearly, its criteria as well as the weight ascribed to each factor for granting or refusing exemptions. The new web portal is a great opportunity to engage with these issues in the same space.

The ministry would also do well to be open to feedback. For instance, not every conceivable case will fit neatly into the fields of the application form uploaded online yesterday. (The form does allow additional “remarks” to be made, the weight of which is unclear.)

As at last Thursday, a total of 19,941 applications had been made to enter Trinidad and Tobago, and 11,682 of those had been granted. Because no favour will be shown to anyone who had already applied before yesterday, at least 8,259 now start from scratch.

This is undoubtedly unfair, and possibly a breach of legitimate expectations, given that the date of an application is ostensibly being considered. However, applicants can take some comfort in the fact that from now on all will be on an even footing. Or can they?

The uncomfortable nexus between this process and political actors remains, with Minister of National Security Stuart Young spearheading the unveiling of the new system last week.

He has also said yet again that each application will be handled on a case-by-case basis, raising the possibility of a speedier process being cancelled out by all of the uncomfortable issues which have dogged the State’s handling of this matter for months.

It is notable the new system was launched just as an Opposition motion of no confidence against Mr Young has been filed and is due to be debated. If that motion is hot air, as Mr Young’s supporters cry, it is also to be hoped the change he has now introduced is not similarly a cynical gesture.