Orihuela is known for its rich history, but having one foot firmly in the past is not always something to be proud of, unless being able to boast that the Civil Registry is the only one still maintaining its historic roots, as the only one in the entire Valencia region where appointments cannot be made online.
As staff at the Palacio de Justicia are so inundated with initial enquiries that the service frequently collapses around them, now union officials are taking up their case and trying to raise awareness of an administrative issue that is causing long term problems for those who might need to use the services of the registry, resulting in unnecessary and unacceptable delays and unpleasant and untenable working conditions for the staff.
María del Pino Galindo, representative of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Administración de Justicia, said this week how despite complaints and reports from the staff to their superiors, “the Department of Justice is deaf to the implement of any improvements that would result in job efficiency”.
Galindo continued to explain how it is totally unacceptable that Orihuela´s Civil Registry is the only one which doesn´t have an automated system, such as is already available for health, doctors and for the processing of identification from the police.
The lack of such a management system results in an average of eighty people being enrolled onto handwritten lists that are under the control of the Guardia Civil officers guarding the facility, but with the workload already drowning the staff and the likelihood that the load cannot be eased until at least May, as the appointment of additional staff is prohibited until at least then, “hours of work and unnecessary trips are lost” which is unacceptable in this age of technology, according to the union.
The union also highlights the plight of many foreign nationals who have obtained citizenship are need to visit the registry to affirm their existence, “because they need to take the oath of the Constitution, which may take months”, or those with residence permits which have already expired and “come back tomorrow and then every day to see if they are lucky”. With many people forced to wait outside in the morning, in the cold and rain at this time of year, just to try to get an appointment, the state of the registry is a dark and miserable process for all.
With just four members of staff to deal with thousands of documents from an estimated 250,000 people across the Vega Baja, their efforts may go unnoticed and unappreciated by most, but as the union explains, they work long hours, often staying late and working well into the evening, without any extra pay, and with files and papers bursting around them, it is clear, according to the union, that the Civil Registry is too small to serve the citizens who both want, demand and deserve a service which is already available in other areas.
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/46372/
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