…Felix promises E-Passports, enhanced security features

WITH the aim of continuing the decentralisation of key citizenship services, the government has allocated some $1.5B in the 2019 budget, to fund current and capital projects under the Department of Citizenship.

Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix, on Tuesday outlined in detail the plans to commence official services at the spanking new passport offices at New Amsterdam and Linden in January of 2019. In 2019, the construction of passport office in Lethem will commence, since according to Felix, “there are several passports and birth registration needs in that community and it is my wish that with the operationalising of the building, both of these needs will be addressed.”

At these new passports offices as well as in Georgetown, the citizenry will also receive improved production of the passports, which will be upgraded from machine readable to E-Passports. This modern and enhanced travel documentation will be accessorised with an electronic chip that will provide enhanced security for users. Felix said that this move will put Guyana in the range with other developed and developing countries across the Caribbean. “Our passport issuing system will be overhauled, necessitating the replacement of all sorts of hardware systems.”

In addition to the E-Passport, there will be the introduction of a 48-page passport with a 10 year life span. It will cost $10, 000 and targets frequent fliers, members of judiciary, businessmen, parliamentarians and senior public servants. Another new feature is the expeditious issuance of passports which will be done at a cost of $20, 000 but will not be available to persons who have either lost or damaged their passports. In 2017, 59, 0079 passports were issued at the central office in Georgetown, 17, 300 were issued in 13 countries across the diaspora and 6143 were issued in Linden.

Free birth certificates
In addition to improved passport services, the department equally will be upgrading its registration services by firstly seeking to annul the late registration condition that applies to a child one year and older. In 2019, late registration will be moved from one year to 11 years and birth certificates will be free of cost for children up to 18 years. In 2018, the department made significant strides in ensuring that all persons are registered by having officers travel to remote areas such as Region One, to ensure same is done.

Strides have also been made to ensure that all foreign nationals meet the criteria for registration and this saw the registration of 2,298 persons in 2018. It is in this regard that the Department of Citizenship has been ensuring that the migrant Venezuelans are legally documented and are treated humanely, in keeping with the immigration laws of Guyana.

While the cost to address this impromptu and unforeseen circumstance, goes into the millions, Felix said that it has to be done, since the situation is a long term one and the relevant programmes are to be put in place to ensure that they are properly integrated into the Guyanese society. The Ministry of Health as well as the Civil Defense Commission have already undertaken this task.

Felix said that while his department did not get all it bargained for in the budget, he is pleased with what was given and will make the best of it. He commended the budget as one that will bring about significant changes, “far from what the opposition had been saying…”

He also rebutted remarks by opposition Member of Parliament, Vickram Bharrat, who said that the main beneficiary of the budget is the executive arm of the government and not the people of Guyana. In the government’s three years, Bharrat said that one trillion dollars has already been budgeted for and nothing has changed for the better.

While downplaying the measures such as pension increase and income tax threshold increase, Bharrat described these as just a mere drop in the ocean since many sectors remain struggling and hundreds of sugar workers are jobless. He stressed that money is being wasted on unnecessary and irrelevant things such as the purchasing of vehicles which could have been used to pay sugar workers’ severance, provide jobs and remove vat from electricity and water.

Colossal mess
In rebutting however, Felix said that the government took over a colossal mess from the PPP and their talk of doom are mere ramblings and is just a matter of, “Thief don’t like to see he mattie with lang bag.” He reminded the House of the magnanimous wastage that took place under the PPP such as the millions of dollars invested in the Skeldon sugar estate which saw no return, the installing of the fiber optic cable on the Mabura road and the theft of millions of dollars.

“How dare them now, clothed themselves with all authority to lecture us about good governance,” Felix argued. While the opposition members continue to speak on the many feasibility studies featured in the 2019 budget, which they described as wastage, Felix said that these are absolutely necessary to avoid failed projects that were frequent under the PPP.

“That is why they were so many failed projects, no study, and no development of thought cannot bring good results in any project,” he said. Felix is hoping that the budget is passed in the House.