THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) wishes to respond to an article published in the Sunday Stabroek of July 12, 2009, under the caption “Musical chairs in the passport office.”

The Police Force wishes to thank Simone Mangal, the author of the letter to the Editor, for highlighting some issues in relation to the Central Immigration and Passport Office at Camp Street, Georgetown, of which we are aware and concerned and have been making efforts to resolve.

Permit us therefore to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the public, but in some instances we were unable to do any better.

Among improvements sought has been extension of the Passport Office building in phases, to deliver a better service. The building is not totally complete but is being utilised in order to prevent the previous situation where passport applicants were outside, sometimes in lengthy queues and exposed to the weather.

The issues raised included the absence of air conditioning, inadequate toilet facilities, the timings for persons to return to uplift their completed travel documents, the noise from the Police Band located nearby and the numbering system for persons paying application fees for new travel documents.

The installation of air conditioning units in the building is part of phase 3 of the construction which is expected to commence tomorrow Wednesday July 15, 2009. In the mean time a number of electrical fans have been installed and are being used to reduce concerns about heat in the building.

The toilet facilities installed include three inside of the building and two outside. The three toilets installed inside malfunctioned sometime after being put into use and resulted with assistance from some members of the public despite our best efforts to advise them on their proper use. However, these will be rectified shortly, and meanwhile the two outside toilets will continue to be used.

In relation to the issue of persons having to move along from one chair to another in order to get to the cashier to pay their application fee when applying for new passports, this is the first time that a complaint has been received about the system. However, the suggestion made has been taken into consideration and a call out of numbers will be introduced starting Wednesday July 15, 2009.

The recommendation that the time when an applicant returns to uplift his/her travel document on a particular day should be staggered has also been accepted. This was implemented from Wednesday July 15, 2009, and we hope that members of the public will keep to the times allocated to them.

In relation to the music, in the absence of air conditioning units, the windows to the building are kept open to allow fresh air inside and there is a difficulty when the Police Band, which is located nearby, is going through rehearsal and practice sessions. This should however be alleviated when the units are installed.

Finally, the Police Force is calling on all concerned to work with us so that we can continue to provide a better service at the Immigration and Passport Office.
IVELAW WHITTAKER
Public Relations and Press Officer