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Citizenship Minister denies plot to register foreigners to vote
There is no plot to register foreigners in a wholesale manner so that they can vote in the coming general and regional elections.
Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix during the interview with host, Leonard Gildarie on Wednesday
This was the assertion made by Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix, who appeared Wednesday on “The Political Show”, hosted on Kaieteur Radio, 99.1FM and 99.5FM.
For several months now, the Opposition has been expressing fears that thousands of migrants may be registered in a plot by the administration, ahead of elections.
Pointedly questioned about the issue by host, Leonard Gildarie, Felix made it clear that the figures say differently and any marked difference would be spotted.
In 2016, three years ago, 192 foreign nationals were registered as citizens, with a significant number of them through marriages.
In 2019, for the first eight months, this was 108.
With Guyana heading into what has been described as the mother of all elections, with oil and gas at stake, Felix insisted that there is no credence to the allegations by the Opposition.
Elections are slated for March 2.
In fact, the Department of Citizenship has gone public, giving figures of those receiving citizenship, all in the spirit of transparency.
He said that the “fertile imaginations” of the Opposition is just a waste of time with the establishment of the department justified a hundredfold.
According to Felix, the department will stick by its mandate, within the laws, to protect Guyana and there will be no shifting.
The new department was announced in 2015 when President David Granger announced his ministers.
The department was placed under the Ministry of the Presidency, after being taken from the portfolio of the Ministry of Public Security.
Since then, Felix said in justification of the department, there have been a number of passport offices set up in other areas, including Berbice and Linden.
One is being built in Lethem, Region Nine with others planned in Mahdia, Region Eight and Bartica, Region Seven.
The decentralization has been a major plus for the department with lines at the passport offices significantly reduced.
In fact, said the minister, in Berbice, about 70 persons visit the office there daily.
He acknowledged that the work is far from over but a number of actions have significantly improved the delays.
Among the actions are that citizens over 65 don’t have to pay for a passport. There was therefore no plot.
Rather, there was a “carefully orchestrated plan” by the Coalition Government to improve services to the people, and when it came to passports, this has been done.
Eventually, Felix said, the idea is to have all towns offer essential services thus reducing the crowds to city offices.
“That is the only plot… to get services into towns…”
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