Dear Claudienne,

My two daughters and my son went to the tax office in Mandeville, Manchester, on March 23, 2022 and paid $6,000.00 for a five-day express police certificate. They were then given a receipt and told to call or text the May Pen office at 876-224-1014. When my children called this number, the office sent a text that stated, “Earliest date available is May 25. Do you need that date?”

So after paying for the five working days express service that was advertised, the police gave them a scheduled appointment for two months later.

This is an integrity issue I am hoping is a mistake. I spoke to someone at the Kingston office, where the police certificates are issued, who believes that it’s okay for a company to advertise one thing and give something else.

I believe that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) website needs to be updated.

The JCF website states: “Persons who require a police record should visit any of the Inland Revenue Department Offices (Tax Office) and pay for the record. The receipt must be in the name of the applicant.

The fees are:

* $3,000 – regular service (21 working days)

* $6,000 – express service (5 working days)

* $8,000 – next day service (temporarily suspended)”

I need to know why the tax office is collecting it, even though the notice said, “temporarily suspended”.

PH

Dear PH,

It seems that the police cannot deliver on the advertised express service because they do not have the staff to cope with the high demand for police certificates.

When contacted, the Tax Administration of Jamaica (TAJ) sent Tell Claudienne the following e-mail on March 29,2022:

“Receipt of your e-mail query is acknowledged. We will refer the query to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). As the customer rightly indicates, this is a JCF matter as it is a collection service provided on their behalf and at their instruction. Currently, we have no instruction on record not to collect for an express police record (5-day) service.

We will be in a better position to respond once they have communicated their position with us.”

In the meantime, on March 30 Tell Claudienne asked the Office of the Commissioner of Police to clarify what the express police record five-day service provided to people applying for their police record.

On Monday, May 16, 2022, Tell Claudienne received the following e-mail from an assistant commissioner of police:

“The matter was only brought to my attention on Thursday evening (May 12, 2022). The certificates are issued within the stipulated time frames. The issue usually surrounds getting an appointment date to have the fingerprints taken. There is a high demand for criminal records which results in the wait time.

The scheduling system is presently being reviewed. The delay in responding is regretted.”

On May 16, 2022, the column asked TAJ to clarify if the money collected for police certificates at the tax office was put into the budget of the Ministry of National Security (MNS).

The TAJ responded as follows:

“Please be advised that all monies collected by TAJ on behalf of another agency are transferred daily to the Accountant General’s Department (AGD). Payments are then made to the respective agencies by the AGD and a full report submitted to the respective agencies of all related transactions by TAJ based on the agreed schedule. In respect of MNS, this is currently done on a monthly basis as per the agreement.”

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-936-9436 or cell # 876-484-1349 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.