The new deadline for machine-readable Bahamian passports is May 2010, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, who made the revelation during his recent visit to Grand Bahama.
Minister Mitchell has said repeatedly that the present handwritten passports do not meet international security standards and the new upgraded documents would make it extremely difficult for anyone to forge.
But Minister Mitchell said unfortunately it will be sometime before machine-readable passports become a reality. (The last deadline was June 2006.)
“The Tenders Board will have a meetingﾅbut I think there were one or two questions they had about the choice of the vendor, which the Cabinet had asked to be clarified,” Minister Mitchell said.
“I believe that meeting should have clarified that and then there would be a report on what should have happened. I think the deadline is May 2010. We should have done this a long time agoﾅI am unhappy that this matter has dragged on until the end of the term, but we are getting there,” the minister said.
Minister Mitchell explained previously that the delays in introducing the new documents also came about due to a change in the standards relating to what information would be included in the travel documents.
This in turn translated into the system being more expensive, he said.
Machine-readable passports, which have certain biometric data entered on the data page, are a key step in meeting International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) global objectives.
The document is designed to minimise delays in border crossing formalities and to safeguard international civil aviation operations against acts of unlawful interference.
The U.S Department of State has said the passports are expected to help deter fraud and quickly confirm a passport holderﾒs identity.
During his recent visit to Grand Bahama, Minister Mitchell also reiterated that the new passports would be more expensive than the present ones.
“I think the cost of the passport will go up. I would even say itﾒs going to be a significant increase and what most people [do] when these passports are introduced, regardless of the costs, people dash in to get new passports,” he said.
“But it wonﾒt be necessary because all the passports issued before a certain date will continue to be valid until those passports expire and it is only at the point when the passport is expired that you need to get a [new] passport.”
Facilities for a new passport office in a newly-constructed government complex in Freeport was also scheduled to be built.
In October, the minister had indicated that building of the new complex, announced by then Minister of Housing Shane Gibson, would cost an estimated $2.2 million and would be completed by early 2007.
Now, according to Minister Mitchell, those plans are also being pushed back because of changes to the ministries. Minister Mitchell was referring to the cabinet changes made by Prime Minister Perry Christie in February.
“The building was actually being done by the Mortgage Corporation and I gather there are some clarifications that actually have to be put in the drawings. I spoke to the architect so he is waiting on additional instructions on that because we really should have been starting construction on it in December of this year,” Minister Mitchell said.
Minister Mitchell could not say how far this would push the project back, but said that if it dragged on, government might have to proceed and build the complex.
Earlier, Minister Mitchell had also addressed the need for a protocol lounge, with an appointed deputy chief of protocol stationed at the Grand Bahama International Airport. He had also said “there is a need for a secure facility” so U.S. officials can conduct interviews for granting persons visas.
By: Courtnee Romer, The Bahama Journal
