Over 5,700 backlogged passports to be eliminated by Friday

Over 5,700 backlogged passports to be eliminated by Friday – Pres. Ali

Oct 08, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Government has announced plans to rid the backlog of some 5,700 passports thereby allowing for their issuance by Friday. This was announced by President Irfaan Ali on Friday during a live video statement.

President Ali said a dedicated team has been assembled and is currently working 24-hour shifts to tackle the existing backlog including the 400 passports for the diaspora.

“So, all things being equal, that is we don’t have any challenges with the machines and so on by next Friday, we are hoping to bring this backlog to nil position,” he assured the nation.

The Head of State acknowledged the frustration expressed by citizens regarding the prolonged wait times for passport issuance and clarified that the backlog issue was exacerbated by a global shortage of passports, a challenge faced by numerous countries worldwide.

“Now, we have purchased a lot of passports back into the system. But what I’ve seen is that people are not utilising regional offices,” he highlighted.

For instance, at the Central Immigration and Passport Office in Georgetown, there are about 4,048 passports in the backlog; in Berbice 900; Linden 102; Anna Regina 103, Parika 54 and Bartica, five.

Persons who applied for new passports, or were seeking renewals had to wait for two months before being able to receive same.

The President reminded that Guyana was recently plagued with a shortage of passports, which had impacted negatively on the distribution process.

Last year, the government had ordered some 80,000 new passports to satisfy demands locally.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Government, Irfaan Ali, President, Regional, statement

Latest News