Guyanese who applied for new passports at the Guyana Consulate in New York between September 2009 and December 2009, and turned up expecting to receive these, were told that passports would no longer be issued at that location.
They were informed that their passport application forms had been sent to the Passport Office in Georgetown where their new passports would be issued. The new passports would then be forwarded back the to the consulate in Manhattan, and officials there would then contact the waiting applicants to uplift the passports.
Many Guyanese who turned up at the consulate were angry and frustrated. They admitted observing a posted notice which said that after December 31, 2009, new Guyana passports would be issued by the Passport Office in Georgetown. The applicants understood this to mean that applications handed in on and after January 1, 2010 would be processed in Georgetown, but that new passport applications handed in even on December 31, 2009, would be processed in New York. So they were upset when they learnt that they would have to wait an indefinite period for their new passports. Guyanese who had planned to travel on designated dates were not pleased that they would have to change their plans.
This writer understands that for security and control reasons the new biometric passports will have to be handled by the Passport Office in Georgetown.
Much unpleasantness could have been avoided had the personnel of the Guyana Consulate in New York communicated clearly and effectively with the Guyanese public in New York.
Yours faithfully,
Jamal Ali
