Mexico awards cash for worst gov't red-tape sagas

[Robbien]

Source: AP

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Ana Maria Calvo has fought unsuccessfully for seven months to correct her husband's name on her child's birth certificate.

The first official said she would have to go through the courts to correct the mistake. When she expressed astonishment, the official told her he didn't like her attitude and sent her to another line. By the time she reached the front of that line, she was crying. «The second official told me, 'You know what, I don't help crying women. Go see if my colleague will help you,»' Calvo said.

. . .

Calderon thought up the contest in September as part of his administration's efforts to streamline government requirements. The goal is to reduce the federal government's more than 4,200 bureaucratic forms to 3,000 by the time Calderon leaves office in 2012.

A citizens' panel shuffled through more than 20,000 entries to choose the three worst bureaucratic nightmares, one each at the federal, state and municipal level.

Civil servants were not punished, but Calderon promised his government would try to fix problems recounted by contestants.


Read more: http://www.pr-inside.com/mexico-awards-cash-for-worst-gov-t-r995132.htm

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Don't punish the wrongdoers, just send out promises to do better.

[demosincebirth]

1. Sounds like a trip to the local DMV