World

Mexican woman wins $22,000 for useless red tape

by francisrivera | January 10, 2009 at 12:41 am

88 views | 11 Recommendations | 1 comment

I really haven't met anyone who does not hate "red tape". Who would even want redundant procedures that gives the needy and deserving people the agony of going through every roundabouts just to get there?

In this case, a mother (also hating red tapes), would get something positive from experiencing the worst one she had to go through in her life.

MEXICO CITY (AFP) — A Mexican woman who needs to collect seven signatures every two weeks to obtain medicine for her sick son won a government competition Thursday for the most useless bureaucratic procedure.

Cecilia Velazquez received a check for 300,000 pesos (22,000 dollars) from President Felipe Calderon after winning the competition to identify the worst red tape in the notoriously bureaucratic country.

Velazquez's son has a genetic condition and she needs to visit social security services every two weeks to collect his medicine.

"The process takes at least four days each time, from delivering the prescription to administering the medicine," Velazquez said.

The competition, overseen by the public services ministry, gathered 20,000 entries from frustrated citizens.

"She's a working mother who has a sick son and I know, as a father, that we will give anything for the health and life of our children," Calderon said as he presented the prize.