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Passport
to pandemonium The government has introduced this new screening process both at the Department of Immigration and Emigration and the Department of Registration of Persons to minimise obtaining passports and identity cards based on forged documents. The expertise of the Examinner of Questioned Documents (EQD) has been sought for this purpose and the screening process has been introduced on an experimental basis at the Passport Office while it has been put into operation with effect from this week at the Department of Registration of Persons. The system was introduced after the discovery that ID cards had been issued to LTTE cadres including the woman suicide bomber who attempted to assassinate EPDP leader, Douglas Devananda based on forged documents through official channels of the Department of Registration of Persons. Controller of Immigration and Emigration E. Jinadasa told The Sunday Times that the Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order, together with the Department of Immigration and Registrar of Persons had decided to appoint an independent body to inspect the main documents pertaining to obtaining passports. The new procedure is being implemented by personnel nominated by the Ministry, with eight of them being allocated to the Department of Immigration and Emigration and another three to the Department of Registration of Persons. Explaining the difference between the old process of obtaining a passport and the new process, Mr. Jinadasa said now applicants for both one-day and normal passports had to get their documents scrutinised by the newly setup Examination of Questioned Documents (EQD) section prior to handing them over to the staff officers and making payments. The EQD checks the veracity of applicants' Identity Cards and Birth Certificates (BC), for any alterations, fraud or duplications, he said. If any questionable documents are found they have to be handed over to the Controller who will upon further scrutiny, take the necessary action. "Although, Identity Cards and Birth Certificates were checked before, now a more comprehensive check will be conducted by an independent body consisting of security officials. The International Organisation of Migrations, has agreed to provide us with equipment to maximise accuracy and speed up the examination process," Mr. Jinadasa said. The negative side of this new system is that applicants have to stand in mile-long queues, for hours on end, inside the Department, just to hand over the relevant documents for inspection, which is only the first step. "After standing in line for about three hours to hand over our documents, we had to sit and wait for another hour or so before we get to make our payments and follow the usual process to obtain our passports," one disgruntled applicant said. Explaining her situation she said she had been asked to return before five to collect the passports. However, having already been at the Department from 10.30 a.m.-3.30 p.m, she and her family had decided to return the next day to collect the passports. But when they came the next day, they couldn't even enter the Department as it had been shut temporarily due to an influx of applicants trying to get in. So, after two days, they had yet to obtain their 'so called' one-day passports, she complained. This was just the view of one of the many applicants who were wandering around the office, in search of staff who could explain the new procedure to them. Some were there for the second consecutive day to try and obtain their one-day passports. Most were unaware of the new procedure that had been introduced. "We were just told to come and stand in this queue and then go and sit there," said another angry applicant pointing to the sitting area. "We have no idea what this new regulation is about," he said. Adding to the confusion were the woes of applicants who had travelled to the city from outstations, hoping to get passports within 24 hours. Some of them had to find accommodation to stay overnight while others who could not do so had to go to their hometowns and return the next day. However, Mr. Jinadasa said that delays in delivering one-day passports had been kept to a minimum, adding, that about 150 of the 1200 one-day passports issued daily, were getting delayed. "It's not practical to expect a passport that is handed in at about 3.30 p.m. to be returned to the applicant by 5.p.m. that same day. Those would have to be collected the next day," he said. However, many applicants argue that they are not even allowed to enter the Department towards evening as it becomes overcrowded. "So how are we to hand in our documents on time," some of them ask. Mr. Jinadasa assured that work would be expedited once the new machines that are expected next week come into operation. "We thought of launching this pilot project for one week to see how the personnel would cope with the work load, and get the feed back from both the staff and the applicants to improve the new process system," he said. Meanwhile P.B. Abeykoon, who took over as Head of the Department of Registration of Persons recently, said three officials had been appointed to examine documents and they started a familiarisation programme a week before the system was launched on September 6. As this Department only processes about 150-200 applications daily, there was little hassle in implementing the extra scrutiny process and no complaints had been received so far he said. |
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