Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit shares detail about e-passport

Dominica: Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit addressed the seventh episode of S3 of the Annou Pale on Sunday, February 21. Prime Minister greeted the audience and mentioned that the island had done much to restrict the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister further congratulated the team of St Vincent and the Grenadines for winning the second OECS/ECCB Netball series, which was hosted by the Commonwealth of Dominica. He further congratulated the team of Dominica for their participation and attaining experience.

He also took a moment to compliment the organisers of the event for well executing as it was a real triumph for them.

He further said that the government of Dominica has been making significant development in the sports industry amid the pandemic. The country is committed to building the sports industry despite the economic stress.

The Prime Minister also emphasized that he welcomed a delegation of the World Bank and discussed various ongoing projects supported by the bank. He further mentioned that the World Bank is an important partner of the government of Dominica in the establishment of the Geothermal Energy Development in the Roseau valley. The worth of the project is around USD 27 million.

He further thanked the delegation for a visit.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit then hailed the Government of Mexico for providing another stock of booster doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

On February 21, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit held an interactive session with the Minister of National Security and Home Affairs, Rayburn Blackmoore and the police inspector, Deryck St Rose. The interactive session was based on the ‘E-passports’.

During the session, the three discussed – How to apply for an e-passport, why the Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs adopted this new passport and the difference between the machine-readable passport and e-passport.

While explaining the importance of the e-passport, Minister Blackmoore said that the government has switched towards the more secure travel document – passport, following the need by the partners.

“We must ensure to comply with international standards and practices,” said the Minister of National Security.

The very next question asked by the Prime Minister, on behalf of the public of Dominica, was the difference between the machine-readable passport and the e-passport. The National Security Minister responded that as the name suggests, the new passports would be the electronic passport, or a chip, which will carry all the information about the holder.

The Minister further explained that the passport would have an information chip, which will contain all the details, including the biometric information of the holder. National Security Minister further stated that the new passports would be more secure and will possess security features that will make it difficult to create a duplicate one.

While responding to the question about the amendment in the date from July 2023 to August 2022, the Minister said that the Ministry of National Security did not want that any of the Dominican citizens to carry an anticipated passport.

Blackmoore further stated that many systems had been put into this to facilitate the department. He stated that the space at the immigration offices had been increased, and new staff members and four police officers had been recruited to fasten the procedure.

The Minister further mentioned the Mobile kits, which will contain all the important information about the Dominican, holding the passport.

Inspector St Rose said that this procedure of transformation has been helping in enhancing the relationship between police and the general public. He mentioned that the public had liked the idea of mobile kits.

Skerrit, on the popular demand of the public, asked the Minister of National Security and Home Affairs to elaborate the ministry’s plan to accommodate the Dominican’s living overseas.

To this, Blackmoore stated that the government would establish passport workstations at the mission offices, which will help the citizens to feel like immigrating to their own country. The information will be transmitted to the central office of Roseau for the final vetting process.

The details like payment options, documentation, time, eligibility, and many others were also shared during this session.