It has been said that if we had evolved to live on the sea bed and we had the same intelligence that we have now - the very last thing that we would have discovered would have been water. In Mauritius, we are so surrounded with pieces of official paper that we often seem to have forgotten what they are for.

When my car was due for its ?fitness test? recently, I thought it was an opportunity to check that the garage that did my servicing had been doing a good job and the car was safe to drive. I was also encouraged by the thought that the cars that drive behind me on the road would also be subjected to the same test. I felt that if their brakes were properly checked regularly, they were less likely to plough into the back of me. My family and myself would be safer on the road.

I had been warned that this process could take some time, but due to the importance of road safety, I was quite prepared. I do know that many people find it necessary to take a full day away from work to get this vehicle examination completed. Of course, if this means that there are 50 000 lost working days in the Mauritius economy - this is worthwhile if it makes the roads safer.

The first stage of the process is to secure an appointment and find out which day I could present the car for assessment. The NTA has at least four telephone numbers which are recommended for this purpose. After two days of ringing all of these numbers several times, I was unable to talk to anyone able to give me a date for the test. I assumed there was a staff shortage with so many cars to thoroughly inspect. To resolve this first difficulty, I drove to Port-Louis during working hours and found that appointments were secured at ?window n° 2?. After waiting in the queue, I was given an official number and date.

Two and a half weeks later, I arrived early to have my car checked. The first stage was to ensure that it was on the list for that day. The list was displayed at ?window n° 3?. and after waiting for my turn to view the document. I was able to establish that I had arrived on the right day. I then was directed to queue at ?window

n° 1? to present my insurance certificate and log book, plus the fee for the inspection. This was a very long queue and obviously a rich source of revenue for ?kebab?, ?dahl puree?, and sandwich sellers. The staff shortage must be very long standing because the fast food suppliers were all very well established. Nearly two hours later, I arrived at the window, where I was given permission to put my car into the queue n° 4, ready for the inspection.

Queue n° 4 was not a good choice. There was a staff shortage at the business end, so it was a slow shunt up to the inspection pits. After carefully positioning the car over the void, there was a wait while someone rediscovered the log book. The actual inspection then took place. Perhaps because of staff shortage, noboby used the pit or looked underneath the car. The brakes, chassis, steering suspension, transmission and high adjustments were untested. Everything was ticked as satisfactory and I was directed back to ?window n° 4? certificate preparation.

At this last window, after another lengthy queue, I was invited to leave the vehicle inspection report and wait in a second queue for the final official paper. There were more tempting refreshment opportunities and as usual in Mauritius, everyone in the queue was good natured and friendly. After using up the best part of the day on this exercise, I would like to feel that it had been a worthwhile experience. The ?kebabs? were good and all the staff behind the windows were very helpful. Overall, there is a very serious problem. It is as though everyone has completely forgotten what the whole process is designed to achieve. It is not true that as long as there are long and orderly queues of people collecting official papers, then the economy and the government are working well.

After this experience, I feel less secure on the roads. The buses that fly around the country and that overtake me dangerously when I am observing the speed limits seemed to be in the same queue for not testing brakes. When we already have such a poor record for road safety, why are we not using the systems designed to help? The staff shortages are really about the wrong kind of staff. There is a preoccupation with shuffling pieces of paper around and creating miles of queues. Where are the motor vehicle engineers who will get their hands dirty actually checking the cars?

Jules JERRET