$150M project to restore birth certificate records

Aug 26, 2015 News

Government is moving ahead with plans to restore birth certificate records dating back almost 100 years ago.
Answering questions on Monday during the 2015 National Budget considerations, Minister with responsibilities of Citizenship, Winston Felix, explained that part of a $183M allocation this year will go to restoring records of the General Registrar’s Office (GRO) starting as far back as 1920.
The restoration of the birth certificate records, which will include an eventual digitalization, will eventually be placed online for internal use and likely for wider possibilities.

Minister Winston Felix and his team answering questions from the Opposition on the 2015 National Budget.

It is a known fact the GRO’s office at the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) building in Robb Street is filled with valuable records dating back for more than a century.
Records have gone missing and added to that there is the growing fear of a possible fire.
The Department of Citizenship was created under the David Granger administration shortly after it took office in May. Applications for citizenship and for visas had been the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs until it was removed.
According to Felix, GRO has now rented an additional part of the GPOC building to help in the restoration project.
As part of the short-term plan, Felix disclosed there is a project to build a network in the Department of Citizenship, with $11M to be spent on this and other items to modernize the office.