More on airport bureaucracy

Returning to Jamaica from Barbados last week, I wonder why is it that:

1. At the Barbados airport there are two Customs Officers on duty to process the two flights that were in when I arrived vs. the twelve that were on duty in Jamaica to process the one Caribbean Airlines flight?

2. The roving Immigration Officers who check that the form is completed cannot turn it over and check that the Customs section is also complete? Of course I asked, and was told that “We are two different departments” (and they report to two different Ministries)

3. As Jamaican citizens we need to complete an Immigration form? Most of the information on the form is already in our passports which we must present to the officer

4. I need to tell the Immigration Officer my intended address in Jamaica? As a Jamaican citizen, don’t I have the right to go wherever I want?

Everyone of these is an unnecessary cost to the Jamaican taxpayer, and an inconvenience to the traveller!

And I also wonder - what do Immigration and Customs do with the forms anyway? To what use do they put the information? Do they tabulate it, analyse and use it to make informed decisions? Hmmm .... something to think about!