The Office of Motor Vehicles has not been issuing REAL ID drivers licenses for many months. The reason is because it does not have the special security paper that’s used to produce the REAL IDs.
On Wednesday, Rep. Ben Vaomu Sauvao reported on the House floor that many students and recruits for the military services are waiting for OMV to issue their drivers licenses. He said the office stopped producing the drivers licenses last year and has been issuing receipts to those renewing their drivers licenses and obtaining new ones. He asked that the House Committee on Public Safety seek answers from OMV on why its taken so long to procure the special security paper needed to produce the drivers licenses. He said students and military recruits have been waiting for their licenses for many months.
The Tuala-uta faipule was also concerned that the Tax Office is discontinuing their free tax filing services which many people have depended on for many years.
It was announced last year that the tax filing service would be discontinued this year and wage earners were encouraged to use private tax filing services.
Sauvao said this is a service that so many have come to depend on and the House should enquire if there is an alternative plan to help tax filers.
The first term faipule was also concerned that junk vehicles are being dumped by the roadside for example near the golf course. He said it seems that the junk vehicles are just left by the roadside but they should be removed as they are an eye sore. Since a hearing with ASPA officials is scheduled for next week, the faipule asked that the removal of the junk vehicles be an issue to be covered at the hearing.
Also during Wednesday’s House session, Rep Trude Ledoux-Sunia drew attention to conditions at the immunizations clinics in Tafuna and Fagaalu. She said she took her children to both clinics for their shots and both were overcrowded with about 100 children. There were not enough seats and some parents had to sit on the floor. She reported that only one nurse was administering the ionization shots.
“This is not the standard of service we expect,” she stated.
She asked that the immunization service be included in topics to be covered in a hearing with officials of the Department of Education and Department of Health next week.
