There is nothing unusual about seeing, on a typical morning, a line at the Passport Office so long it meanders around the corner of Camp, into Barrack Street. This is usually a daily occurrence, come rain or sun, and on two of the four days Stabroek News visited, the rains did indeed come.
When it started raining on Tuesday, July 12, those queued up were fortunate to be granted access to the shed for shelter. Among this group was a family of five (parents and three children, including a one year old baby girl) who had travelled all the way from the Corentyne, having been on the road since 04:00 hrs. Over three hours later, around 07:30hrs, they stood in the sun, having not brought umbrellas, the child’s topless frame bared to the heat.
The family plans to travel soon, hopefully permanently, according to the father, who commented, “If a simple thing like getting a passport is hard, wah more nah gon hard?”
When the rains came on Wednesday the masses were not as fortunate. It was gathered, that because the showers occurred before the specified 07:00 hrs opening time, they were not allowed to take shelter in the shed.
They were rescued by an umbrella vendor, who had been on standby and capitalized on the small fortune the rains brought. That is, until he was robbed of his money by two patrons to whom he had accidentally given $4,000 change instead of the $400 he owed them. It had still been dark when the rains came.
If you pass by the office late enough (around 08:00 hrs) as many are in the shed as line the roadway. The shed is the first stop on your way to securing a passport.
But before one can gain entry into the shed, one must be gifted with a numbered ticket. Those with a ticket will be allowed through to process their application. The “latecomers” form a line to write their names down in a book that will gain them first preference in processing when they return the next day.
It was on Stabroek News’ third visit that an immigration officer was overheard telling a pair of women that 300 people are processed daily. It was only 08:00 hrs and the immigration officer told them to return the following day as the office had reached its daily quota for processing applications. “If you come late, you’ll have to come the next day, and if you come late tomorrow, you’ll have to come the next, and the next,” the officer advised them.
Waiting nearby was a woman, small in stature, accompanied by her young child. She pleaded with the officer to have some leniency with her, explaining that she had travelled from “all the way” on the East Coast.
She had left Vryheid’s Lust at 04:00 hrs on July 12 and waited three hours in line, only to be sent home for “authorization” from her husband that he was the father of their child. Tears in her eyes, she held up the letter she had returned with, explaining that she had been asked to come again the next day as she had lost her place in the queue.
She was not the only person who complained of having waited for hours before being asked to return with required documentation.
When Stabroek News visited at 10:00 hrs on June 30, a mother of three disclosed that she had awakened at 03:00 hrs the day before and travelled from Berbice with her children to apply for their passports. She related that she stood in line four and a half hours, and while she was able to complete the process for them on that day, she had to return to have hers processed because she had not known that she needed her birth certificate.
An enquiry with the officer at the shed revealed that an ID card, filled out application form and birth certificate were needed (if you had the green passport) in order to apply for a new passport. A kindly gentleman standing not far away shouted the advice to “Come 5 o’clock, or you won’t get in.”
The buddy system
Of the scores of persons Stabroek News managed to engage with, many had travelled from the Corentyne, in groups, leaving as early as 02:00 hrs and 03:00hrs to secure a place in the line. One such group, which had arrived at the Passport Office since 04:30 hrs on Wednesday July 13, had travelled from Crabwood Creek.
Others came from Wakenaam, Linden, Mahaica Creek, and as close as Bent Street and Kingston. A young woman who lived close by in Kingston was there since 04:40 hrs that morning and according to her, there were at least 80-100 people congregated already.
She related that her only purpose there was to keep a spot for her mother who was travelling all the way from Berbice and whose passport had expired. Having received number 97, she managed to push her way into the first batch of persons who were taken into the office for processing as the cut-off point was initially number 96.
She was not the only person who utilized the buddy system. For one man, however, after keeping a spot for a friend for more than two hours and making it to the top of the line, he was forced to rejoin the line when she finally arrived. He was the first to relate that it had poured earlier that morning and many were forced into the shed to avoid getting wet. The man opined that it is “Totally ridiculous packing people in a chicken pen like that.”
Perhaps as popular as the buddy system is the trend of travelling in pairs, not surprising given the hours of waiting that is required. The woman from Wakenaam, accompanied by another woman, said she had travelled to Georgetown the day before on unrelated business and decided to “kill two birds with one stone,” as travel between the two places was expensive.
Most people, when asked, said they were there to “renew” their passports as they had intentions of travelling soon on vacation or simply wanted to “get it over with.”
Although there are no longer provisions in place for passport renewals, as one has to apply for a completely new passport on the expiry of the old one, few seemed to be aware of this fact. The word “renewing” was thrown around quite frequently, even by the immigration officers, perhaps because it is a term many are familiar with when it comes to the passport application process.
“The service needs to be better, people now renewing and applying should be in different lines instead of this jumble,” a Bent Street resident had commented.
Another man said he was told that regardless of the nature of the transaction, they were “all applications.”
One woman seemed appalled that the fees for the two transactions were the same.
No place for senior citizens
It was close to 08:00hrs on July 12 and near the front of the line to the shed stood an elderly man. He too was there to ‘renew’ his passport. Although it does not expire until September, at least six months’ validity is needed for travel.
His number was 292. In obvious frustration, he stated that there was “no system” and that “people doing a lot of crap,” pointing out that there were no provisions for senior citizens. He, too, had been forced to run for shelter when it began to rain.
This man was 70 years old, and had arrived there around 05:30 hrs after traveling from Mon Repos. He informed that he had met a man who boasted of being first in line, having arrived since 23:00 hrs on July 11.
