CONNECTIVITY issues that the Ministry of Citizenship had faced with utility companies, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph and the Guyana Power and Light, have been resolved, and the ministry is now working assiduously to have all the necessary equipment installed and furnishings in place for its new offices at New Amsterdam, Berbice and Linden.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that the furnishings at the New Amsterdam office are already in place, and, with the installation of all the computers almost completed, it is likely that business at the new office will soon commence. The pace is also expected to be accelerated at the Linden office, so that the new office too, can soon go into operation as well.

Meanwhile, the evaluation of bids for the construction of a new office at Lethem is underway. Some $50M has been allocated for that project. The idea to construct new immigration offices at New Amsterdam, Berbice; Linden and Lethem will see the decentralising of services and the reduction of the workload at the Camp Street central office. By taking the services to the people in those areas, the crowd build-up will be greatly reduced and persons from those areas, no longer will have to endure the long travel to access such services.

It was imperative to have transformers installed so that reliable electricity to power the equipment could be provided. Personnel have already been identified and trained to man the new offices, where the aim is to have citizens receive the same level of service with the production of passports, as is obtained at the central office.

The passports are soon to be upgraded from machine-readable to E-Passports, which is a modern and enhanced travel document that will be accessorised with an electronic chip to provide enhanced security for users.

The new biometric or E-Passport will be a 48-page document with a 10-year life span and will cost $10, 000. It is expected to be of great benefit to frequent fliers, members of the judiciary, businessmen, parliamentarians and senior public servants. In addition, efforts are being made to introduce the expeditious issuance of passports, at a cost of $20, 000; but this service will not be for the benefit of persons who have lost or damaged their travel documents.

The upgrade will allow Guyana to be in the range with other developed and developing countries across the Caribbean. Already, pensioners who previously have had to pay $6000 to obtain a passport, can now obtain the travel document at no cost.