(Interviews and photos by Shabna Ullah)
This week we asked persons if they have been registered as yet by the house-to-house exercise and got the following responses:
Roopchand, pandit,
“Yes, I got registered about two weeks ago. I was not at home the first time when the group visited my home and they had to come again. I am very happy that they are going around to people’s homes and registering them. I can remember in the past when people had to wait in long lines until late at nights to get an identification card. This is a good system too because some people would not want to make the effort to go out.”
Marsha Carmichael, police,
“Yes, I have already been registered but the GECOM workers had to come three times before I was able to get it done. The first time they came I was not at home and the second time when they returned it was a bad time for me and they had to come again. I am not satisfied with the six months house-to-house registration process. They should have gone around for three months and the other three months they should have had a centre so people can go in their own time and get registered. They had centres in the past and to me that was a smooth and easy process.”
Davie Persaud, sales clerk,
“I have not been able to register as yet although they went to my house and I was glad to get it done. The problem is that I was born in Venezuela and although I came back about 12 years ago I was not able to get a new birth certificate. My brother has the same problem. The workers said they have to give us forms so we can fill them up to apply for the birth certificates. I am looking forward to getting registered and having an ID card for the first time.”
Safraz Bacchus, accountant,
“I recently got registered and to me the process went smoothly. This would be the second time I would be issued with an ID card. I must say that I am impressed with the new technology they have now to take the pictures with digital cameras and print them immediately. If the pictures do not come out nice I think they would take them again, which is good.”
Anita Griffith, hairdresser,
“I was registered last weekend and I think the house-to-house exercise is good. The only thing is that they told me they were looking for me for a while before they finally reached me. I had fixed a time for them to come and they did not show up. My fiancé who works in the interior came out for Easter and is ready to return and he has not been registered as yet. Although they made arrangements to come and register him they still have not shown up. I told him to walk with his documents so in case he sees them anywhere he could get it done. It is important to get the new ID card because in time to come you cannot use the old one.”
Claville Mc Kenzie, housewife,
“Last month I was registered. The workers visited at a time that I was preparing for church and they kept me back for a few minutes. My church is more important to me than the registration and I would have preferred if they had come at a different time. But I accommodated them because I know I have to get the new ID card. Apart from the inconvenient time that the workers come, I like the house-to-house process. I like the idea of them coming around to meet people.”
Wilfred Fraser, carpenter,
“I have not been able to get registered as yet because I work at Aroaima in the Berbice River and I only came out the other day. I saw the crew but they didn’t come to me as yet. While I like the house-to-house process I believe it is good mostly for the elderly, sick and disabled persons. I don’t know if they were at my house already and I was not at home. I am preparing to return to work in a few days and I hope they come before that. If they had a registration centre it would have been convenient for me to drop in on my own time. I am not sure if the GECOM office at Fort Wellington caters for people like in my case but I plan to go in and find out.”
Devika Kurhair, housewife,
“The people went to get me registered but they did not get to do so because they said my birth certificate old and it cannot work. If I should go and apply for a new one now when would I get it back? The process [application for birth certificate] takes about two months and by the time I get it back I think they would finish. They told me that my marriage certificate alone cannot work.”
Maywattie Ally, housewife,
“I got registered for the ID card two months ago. My husband has not been so lucky though; he has still not been able to register. He only has the old copy of his birth certificate because he lost the new one and the workers said that could not work. He applied about four times for a new birth certificate but every time he received a slip saying that he did not get through. They did not give a reason and they did not put a phone number for us to call and find out. It just said that he should take the card to GPO [Guyana Post Office] in Georgetown but we are poor people and it would cost a lot to go. Besides, he is not even sure where he has to go. He really needs to get his ID card so he can get his driver’s licence as well as to do other business.”
Arjune Singh, teacher,
“Yes, I have been registered over two months ago. But I think the six months house-to-house process is too long. Many times they [staff] go to meet people and are not meeting them and they have to keep going back. They had to go to my relatives’ home about four times before they finally got to reach everybody. They should have established an office for people who were not at home to go there. They demand to see so many documents and when people do not have them it means that they cannot get an ID card. During the last registration exercise, I worked with GECOM and we had a period for the house-to-house registration and another period for the exercise at the office. There was even an extended period…”
