Berbicians saving money/time with regional Passport Office

The spanking facility which was officially commissioned on Thursday

By Royan Abrams

Over the last few months, Berbicians have been experiencing less financial burdens associated with applying for or renewing their passports after the Government decentralized the services offered by the Central Passport and Immigration Office which is located in Georgetown.

Previously, Berbicians, like citizens in other parts of the country outside of Georgetown, were required to travel to Georgetown in order to access the services associated with the CPIO while cueing in long lines before getting through.

Today the office which was opened to the public back in July 2019 was officially commissioned in Canje, East Berbice, Region 6. The facility has a price tag of GYD $57.5M and was commissioned by the Director-General in the Ministry of the Presidency, Joe Harmon.

Following the awarding of the contract back in 2017 by MP investment, the government had a sod-turning exercise in December of the said year to identify the spot and mark the commencement of the construction. All the services which are being officered in Georgetown will be available to the people of Berbice at the new facility.

Minister of Citizenship Winston told the gathering on Thursday that the idea for the establishment of the decentralized officer came after he visited the Central Immigration and Passport Office in Georgetown back in 2015 and made certain observations which showed that a majority of the persons seeking services at the Central Office were from Regions 5 and 6.

“After the necessary permissions were received, due in no small efforts to the efficiency to the staff of the department of the lands and survey and the helpfulness of the Mayor and Town council the render documents were made available and the contract was awarded to M&P investment” Felix noted.

While the building was officially commissioned today, Thursday, the services were already being offered since July of 2019 and has to date, processed approximately 6000 applications. The equipment installed at the new facility was sourced from a Canadian company.

“When we came into office we took this position that the suffering which we saw that people had to go through to get government services, we had to put that to an end”  Director-General Harmon related.

He stressed that the facility is expected to minimize time and ensure that all services are officered in an efficient manner.