…Minister Felix intervenes following complaints by indigenous leaders

EVEN as they attend the Annual Conference of the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC), Indigenous Leaders would be able to access passport application and birth registration services at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, starting from today.

On Monday, some of the more than 200 indigenous leaders attending the conference complained of the difficulties in accessing critical services offered by the Central Immigration Passport Office and the General Registrar’s Office (GRO), as they engaged Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix.

Chairman of the Aranaputa Valley Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in the North Rupununi (Region Nine), Adon Jacobus, said he is cognisant of the steps being taken by the Department of Citizenship to decentralise the services offered by the GRO and the Central Immigration Passport Office. While those services have not yet trickled down to many Amerindian villages, particularly those in far flung areas, Jacobus told Minister Felix that the indigenous leaders would be more than willing to capitalise on those services while attending the conference in Georgetown.

In response, Minister Felix said: “I will not allow this opportunity to go.” At that very moment, he committed to have staff from the GRO and Passport Office dispatched to the Conference Centre by midday today.

Though that intervention is a temporary one, Minister told the indigenous leaders that his department has already secured plots of land in Bartica, Region Seven, and in Lethem, Region Nine, for the construction of passport offices. He noted that the documents for the plots of land are being processed. Minister Felix also expressed the hope of providing passport services in Anna Regina and Mahdia, in the not-so-distant future.

Residents of Linden and surrounding communities in Region 10 will soon benefit from a $30M Passport and Immigration Office as the Department of Citizenship moves to decentralise critical services. The office is currently under construction. Similarly, a $57.5M Passport and Immigration Office which is under construction in New Amsterdam, is due to be completed soon, according to the minister of citizenship.

Minister Felix also used the platform to encourage parents to have the birth of their children registered as early as possible, noting that ‘Late Registration’ should be avoided. He explained that while there is a system for late registration it is a tedious process.
“Late Registration carries several requirements because you are registering that child outside of the institution where the birth took place, and therefore you need to satisfy with proof that the child was born to a particular parent, at a particular time and place,” he explained.

On the basis that many persons in indigenous communities opt for late registration, Minister Felix said the Department of Citizenship has embarked on a sensitisation campaign to inform persons of the importance of early registration. It was noted that in some regions, registration officials have been dispatched to aid in the process.
Russian Dorrick, Toshao of Yupukari Village, and its satellite villages – Quatata, Fly Hill and Kaicumbay, in Region 9, complained that since 2015, 56 indigenous persons from Yupukari and the neighouring villages have been without birth certificates, although the relevant documents were submitted.

Minister Felix, who was supported by the Deputy Registrar-General Louis Crawford, has committed to having the GRO look into the matter.