I HAD applied several times on behalf of poor residents in my community and also for members of my church for birth, death and marriage certificates, but the wait is very long. I applied for some birth, death and marriage certificates since last year, but only received a few of those which I had applied for in the post.

If a person has never been registered, the Registrar at the GPO should send me a card saying that the person’s record cannot be found. However, I received no such card after sending in the applications. In an age where modern technology is on the increase, I don’t think one should wait more than one week or three days to get a birth certificate from GPOC.

I gave some of these applicants the receipt, and even filled out a new form for them to go and apply for their certificates directly at the GPOC, but they never heard a word in the mail. As a result of slow and poor processing of birth certificates, perhaps thousands of our Guyanese citizens have been unable to register for their new identification cards and never voted at the recent elections.

Why is it that birth, death and marriage certificates are taking months and even years to be processed at the GPOC? It seems as if there is a lot of incompetence at this institution. I am aware of lots of people who are still waiting for their birth certificates over a year, and many who even had old birth certificates are now even told they were never registered.
A late birth registration now takes six months and over, and tons of paper work and documentation that cost a lot.
In this day and age of modern technology I can’t see the reason why a birth certificate cannot be issued in three days or the same day on special emergencies. The cost for one birth certificate just a year ago was just $30; now it’s $300, an increase of 1000% yet the process to obtain this basic certificate takes longer.

We can no longer trust the mail since these can be lost, damaged or go to a wrong lot number. Worst yet, not many homes have a mail box and many residents work and are not at home. So why the staff at GPOC are telling our Guyanese citizens who have waited hours for their birth, marriage and death certificates that “you will get it in the mail” what makes it so hard to give it to them right there? It’s very sad that many people who have to sign these documents are never in office or goes to work extremely late or hardly ever work.
I have been to several other offices in Guyana for documents and was told the person to sign the document is not in office but that same person can be seen gaffing around the building compound with friends or just gallivanting the shops window shopping but still getting paid for a job they are incapable of doing.
I am not the only person who is faced with this problem; there are thousands of Guyanese experiencing the same thing because the lines for these documents are getting longer and longer every day, and some have to resort to bribery to obtain these certificates.
Amerindians are given first preference to obtain birth certificates through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, so why is it that Indians and Africans are given such a hard time?

I am also concerned about the bad hand writing on these certificates most time an ‘M’’ looks like an ‘N’ or an ‘I’ like a ‘J’ or an ‘O’ like a ‘Q’ thus giving applicants completely different names. When these are queried that’s exactly how it’s shown in the old books written down years ago or they copy the names wrong.
I am also flabbergasted at the dates on these certificates that’s a long scratch or many times is completely omitted. The signatures on these certificates are also a long scratch most times. I believe names written on certificates and dates must be clearly written if a signature is a scratch the name of the person signing on the certificate should be printed at the bottom. That is one reason why many birth, death, and marriage certificates are rejected by immigration. We need an updated birth, marriage and death certificate with typed names and visible signatures, dates, and seal to avoid forgery that can be given within a week of application. The certificate size should be bigger because people with four or five names cannot fit into the small lines where names are written.

I note with interest the registry at GPOC at Georgetown is opened Mondays to Thursdays from 8-12 noon so those travelling from Berbice, Essequibo, Linden and all over Guyana going upstairs to query and uplift birth certificates in the afternoon just after lunch are told to go home and come the next day.

Worst yet, they don’t work on Friday’s. I am still trying to figure out why they work just four half days in the week and don’t work on Fridays. Yet we still wait months even years to get these certificates in the mail.

Another problem I am faced with as a marriage officer is the long wait for marriage certificates. Just about two years ago when I married a couple I would register the marriage and apply for the marriage certificate at the same time. I would be given a slip to obtain the marriage certificate in a week, which I would get. Now they have a new requirement that when I register a marriage I have to go downstairs and apply for the person’s marriage certificate or the person will have to make the application. Unfortunately, marriage officers like myself are blamed because the marriage certificate will take months to come or only after several applications have been made or I have gone back into the marriage section to query the situation. I believe Marriage Officers should be given a greater preference to obtain marriage certificates for marriages they performed because most citizens work and have to lose days just to run to GPOC for these basic certificates.

Why is it we are faced with so many problems for just minor things in Guyana? We have not progressed very far as a nation after 49 years of independence. It’s about time our new Hon. Minister of Home Affairs looks into these issues. For Guyana to progress we must stop living in denial and correct our incompetence from day to day.
REV GIDEON CECIL