Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix says he is focused on not only decentralising the process for the issuance of passports but also on moving towards enabling online applications.
According to Felix, the aim now is to “take advantage of technology,” which is expected to see a decrease in crowds at the Central Immigration and Passport Office in Georgetown and the long waiting time that most applicants endure.
“That is why I am saying that… once the E-Governance system gets rolling, the intention is to just make sure that we can take the services to the areas, which technology can facilitate, so that in Georgetown and let’s say Berbice, where the need is greatest, if technology would enable us to accept passport applications, we will design a process to enable that to happen,” he told Stabroek News in a recent interview.
For years, the system in place for the application, processing and distribution of passports has been plagued by a number of difficulties, chief among which is the centralisation of the operations at the Central Immigration and Passport Office in the city. The office is located on Camp Road and almost every day it is filled to capacity with persons from all across Guyana who are applying for passports, including citizens from far flung areas who would have to travel to submit applications and then return at later dates to uplift their documents if they are approved. The cost of travel for some is tremendous, while persons would line up at as early as 4 am outside the office just so that they could be among the first in line to access the service.
Felix said that once the technology is available in the areas outside of Georgetown, such as Bartica and Essequibo, citizens must be able to apply for their passports online. “Apply for it online, have it processed and sent back to your area,” he said, while describing his vision for the new system.
Currently, Felix noted, the quality of service at the passport office is not satisfactory. “That is our desire right now. We are not satisfied that we are giving the public the best possible service with the current configuration of the Central Immigration and Passport Office,” he said, while noting that it is his ministry’s desire to improve the service immediately through decentralisation. Moves, he assured, have already been made in this direction, as applications are currently handed in at the Georgetown office and the passports are later transported to the identified out of town locations where they are collected.
The police had embarked on a similar initiative in 2014 but it appears that things did not go as planned. Months after the APNU+AFC government took office last year, it was announced that the service has been decentralised to Corriverton, New Amsterdam, Bartica and Lethem on specific days.
While noting that this is the best that can be done right now, Felix said that “we are not satisfied with that.”
In the meantime, he expressed hope that the public would seek to utilise the distribution services that are in place, while noting that the ministry intends to ensure that citizens do not have to wait for “unduly” long periods to collect a passport.
The establishment of passport offices in Berbice, Essequibo and Linden was on the list of the government’s plan for its first 100 days in office.
Although Felix stated that the main constraint currently being faced is the need to access the funds to purchase equipment, he said before equipment is looked at “you still need the building.”
Felix further said that the expensive equipment which will be acquired must be placed in a secure building. At the same time, he added that while the ministry is seeking to identify equipment overseas, the building and the necessary renovations needed have to be done to secure the equipment when it comes.
“Once we can get a building going in Corriverton, [and] New Amsterdam, I think that the Berbice population from Abary can be diverted to New Amsterdam rather than to Georgetown,” he said.
Asked if there is a need to make the central Georgetown location bigger, Felix said, “I think what is now needed is to have people get their passports in relative proximity to their residences and while the crowds are seen in Georgetown most of those people come from areas outside of Georgetown.”
He said that the Georgetown office should continue to service the East Bank Demerara, the East Coast Demerara and the West Demerara areas.
Touts
Meanwhile, Reverend Gideon Cecil, in a letter published in the Stabroek News on January 18, had highlighted the issue of touts and taxi operators who rush persons when they exit the passport office at Camp Street.
“Then the touts who sell passport holders walk onto the steps dragging people to buy and creating lots of noise; some even offer to get the passport more easily at a price for imprudent people,” he wrote, while adding that there are also the taxi men “who rush people into the immigration compound and nothing is done to remove these public nuisances.”
He spoke of lax security and disorder at the office.
Felix said that matter was dealt with “instantly” after the letter appeared in the newspaper. “I was surprised that that could have been occurring and dealt with it the moment I read it and I think it is under review as to if there are ingenious ways of touting which we have not detected since the complaint but I have dealt with it since the complaint,” he said.
He added that vigilance and diligence are needed to ensure that such incidents are detected and dealt with and do not reoccur.
Asked about staffing, Felix stated that there will never be sufficient immigration personnel, especially since the Guyana Police Force, has a high turnover rate. “Staffing is under constant review because the Guyana Police Force, which has the immigration service, has a high turnover rate and as such the high turnover rate requires regular recruitment and training and that I know the force is pursuing vigorously,” he said.
