Dear Editor,
Permit me to congratulate the management and staff of the Passport Office on Camp Street for the excellent job they are doing under difficult circumstances. In fact, I would argue that no other office in Guyana, except the international airport at Timehri, processes so many important documents for so many Guyanese on a daily basis. However, there is a concern, for having visited the office recently it is clear that the building is too small for the daily volume of traffic by those persons seeking a passport.
On a typical day, there are at least two groups waiting to be served, one of which consists of persons queuing to process paperwork to get a passport, while the other group consists of persons waiting to collect their passport, having turned in the paperwork some days before. For the former group, there were eighty-four chairs that were constantly occupied with persons brought in from the shed outside where there were no chairs and only standing room. For the latter group, which was equally as large, there were no chairs; hence, standing in line for at least two hours was the only option available to them. Making the problem more difficult was the fact that the air conditioning units were not working, and one could well imagine when the room is packed how suffocating it could be for most persons, especially young children and the elderly.
For security purposes the arrangement of the office seems reasonable, but if there is an emergency and persons need to be evacuated immediately, there will be chaos, as the number of exits appears to be insufficient, or they are not well identified or they do not exist.
It is obvious that more staff is needed and the queuing system needs to be upgraded, if the objective is to reduce the waiting time so that people can get in and out more quickly. Two hours or more waiting time is too long. This, however, cannot be improved in the short run since the building has to be expanded. Perhaps the new building at Camp and Young Street would be a good place to set up shop, for the travelling public deserves better. At that location, there is much more space.Downstairs can be enclosed to accommodate the public and there is ample space for parking as a parking lot can be constructed and hire cars can be taken off the street easing the congestion on Camp Street.
Lastly, putting on your ‘Sunday best,‘ in keeping with the dress code, must be matched with equally good and courteous service and excellent accommodation provided at government offices. Currently, the services provided by the officers are very good, but there is a mismatch between the dress code and the accommodation. This should be fixed.
Yours faithfully,
C Kenrick Hunte
