Government offices in Ho Chi Minh City say they want to close on Saturdays because staying open the extra day is a waste of time and money in which little work gets done.

He said it had been that way for more than a year now, since the city first began compelling government offices to open on Saturdays last February.

Nothing ado

Many state offices in Ho Chi Minh City now want to end the policy, which had aimed to curb overcrowding at government agencies during the week and serve residents who are busy Monday through Friday.

The city Department of Construction said it receives between two and four residents every Saturday morning, most of whom ask simple questions.

Many sections at the Department of Justice have been deserted nearly every Saturday morning since they began holding the weekend office hours almost a year and a half ago.

To open state offices in the city on Saturday morning costs 50-80 percent of that spent on a weekday, yet only up to 15 percent of the work is done, Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted the Ho Chi Minh City Department of the Interior as saying.

Opening on Saturday costs the Department of Natural Resources and Environment roughly VND88 million (US$4,900) a year in paying utility bills and salaries, according to a survey by the Department of the Interior.

The cost ranges between VND47- 200 million ($2,748-11,694) a year at district People’s Committees, where less than 20 percent of the average weekday’s workload is handled on Saturday, according to the survey.

The department said ward or commune offices, of which there are 302 in the city, only handle 14 percent of an average weekday’s workload on Saturdays.

The department survey found that eight out of 15 city-level offices wanted to close on Saturdays while at least nine district-level offices and at least 113 ward- and commune-level offices felt the same way.

Longer days or weekend hours?

The Department of the Interior has proposed, via the city People’s Committee, that the Prime Minister end the Saturday policy and add two more hours to three workdays instead.

But the proposal has been met by objections from several officials who say they have to take care of their families or attend night classes.

The department has asked the city People’s Committee chairman to let offices linked to the Fire Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the investment license issuance section at the Department of Investment and Planning close on Saturdays.

Residents have little demand for these offices, the interior department said, citing its own surveys.

But the city police, tax and customs agencies should stay open in line with the policy, according to the department, as they have worked effectively on Saturdays, often handling 30-70 percent of a weekday’s work during the weekend hours.

Source: TT, TN