Residents in Gander and Happy Valley-Goose Bay will soon have full motor registration front counter services at their local Government Service Centre. Budget 2008 has allocated $257,800 to provide enhanced services at the Gander and Happy Valley-Goose Bay Government Service Centres. In addition, sub-offices in St. Anthony and Stephenville will receive additional staff support to improve the level of service they are able to offer.

"The Department of Government Services takes pride in being able to offer quality service to its customers and finding ways to improve upon that service," said the Honourable Kevin O�Brien, Minister of Government Services. "We recognize the important role Gander and Happy Valley-Goose Bay play in their respective regions and this decision is a result of that."

The expanded motor registration services are expected to be available by mid- to late summer. Time is required to order equipment, hire and train additional employees and make necessary renovations to accommodate the new service.

These new services are a result of a careful analysis of the locations of Government Service Centres, including sub-offices, around the province and how far people have to travel to access those services. This review provided the Department of Government Services with information on current distances residents have to travel for existing service centres and motor registration offices, taking into account the population served in various regions, driving time to access services, the general traffic patterns in an area or region as well as the best use of available resources.

"Government is committed to rural Newfoundland and Labrador and to ensuring that residents have reasonable and, as far as possible, equitable access to important government services," said Minister O�Brien.

The access review also recognized the need to offer enhanced services in St. Anthony and Stephenville. Additional resources in those areas will mean residents will have improved access to motor registration services such as being able to submit applications and fees for vehicle registrations and driver�s licences, which is currently not the case.

"We will continue to review delivery of government services to our residents to help ensure that they have the best possible access to the government services that we offer. We are committed to providing quality and timely customer service delivery," said Minister O�Brien.

Full motor registration services are currently offered in Mount Pearl, Harbour Grace, Clarenville, Grand Falls-Windsor, Corner Brook and Labrador City.

In addition, drivers can renew their annual vehicle registrations online and receive a 10 per cent discount. This means that a $140 annual vehicle registration paid online will cost $126. This initiative, which was first introduced in 2007-08 fiscal year, is expected to result in an additional $800,000 in savings for vehicle owners.

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Media contact:
Vanessa Colman-Sadd
Director of Communications
Department of Government Services
709-729-4860, 682-6593
vanessacolmansadd@gov.nl.ca

2008 05 09                                                    2:45 p.m.