The battle against bureaucracy in Greece
After four years, and more than 2,000 euros in fees and expenses, my wife received her police identity card this week. Eventually on Tuesday, after being rejected for the third time by the hall of records, a man sat down, read all of the papers, listened to my wife’s story, and issued the paper. The hall of records could not find the book my wife was listed in, so they refused to do anything. It made no difference that she had proof of birth from City Hall, and it made no difference when they found the birth certificate of our son, showing my wife as his mother, and also showing that the mother was Greek. Whether reason prevailed, or one man just took some initiative, the paper was produced, and it all ended. But if a woman born in Athens, of Greek parents, cannot get help with her problem, does anyone really believe that outside investors will invest even one euro after dealing with the Greek bureaucracy? I realize that neither the present government, nor the one in waiting, have the money to fix all of the problems Greece is facing. But it does not take money to make bureaucracy more efficient, polite, and responsive to the public’s needs. No citizens of any country deserve what the Greeks have to face every day. LES GROVE,Glyfada.
