Home Affairs Minister Dr. Virginia Albert-Poyotte has told reporters that her Ministry and the government will deal with any unlawful activity found in the Immigration Department.
“If it is found that persons within the Department facilitate any activity that is unlawful then the Ministry and the government will deal with the situation,” the Minister asserted.
Her comments followed reports of an investigation after revelations that a private company facilitated pricey passport applications.
A viral social media post showed a $650 receipt from the paralegal service agency The Briefcase.
Manager Cindy Alexander-Gabriel acknowledged that her company issued the receipt.
But Alexander-Gabriel explained that the receipt may not have been for a passport application alone but for other services, including purchasing a passport form and photographs and the services of a Justice of the Peace.
She declared that the company was doing nothing illegal or fraudulent.
For her part, the Minister of Home Affairs told reporters that if someone has a private company that Saint Lucians patronise, it is their choice.
“What is of interest to the government is what happens in the Immigration Department, and I will concentrate my efforts and energy in that area,” Albert-Poyotte stated.
“The point that was raised about different companies charging persons for passports, once it is a legal entity, the government will not engage in that,” the Babonneau MP said.
“But we will explore what is happening at Immigration to find out if there is any illegal activity facilitating something that is not acceptable and creating undue stress for the public,” Albert-Poyotte told reporters.
LOL – A joke business that !!
“something that is not acceptable and creating undue stress for the public” is having what was originally a 10-year validity period for an adult passport (as stands for most of the world and most of the Caribbean) reduced to a 5-year insult and joke.
You cannot even travel on it within 6 months of expiring, plus it takes a lifetime and a half to renew, so its effective period of use is closer to 4 years.
This is criminal. And of course we the fools in St Lucia accept this.
Oh yes spare no one!! This is not the first time, certain elements within the public service especially certain men, have been bent on making us a banana republic when it comes to obtaining records. There was a scam with the birth certificates at one point and this was handled and squashed. Dont come with African service-giving in St Lucia. It will not work. It cannot work. And it should not be made to work. Government services must be clear and transparent and anyone who gets in the way of that should be dismissed from the public service forthwith!
There is illegality taking place in that department. A friend told me that they had to give some police officer money who then forwarded the money to a passport office worker so that they can get their passport in two weeks or less. SHAMEFUL!!!!
Best do the same for the Labour Department while you are at it.
Ok. In the meantime another prisoner has escaped from the Babonneau police station. According to Loop news, the officer gave chase, but the fleeing prisoner managed to blend in with a crowd of children returning home from school. I guess instead of the prison outfit he decided to wear school colours that day. Smh
@Law Abiding Citizen. If you don’t like the time frame, go make your own and you can have an unlimited passport.
@Garfield. That is just too funny. Bwaahahahaha!
@ Crow nobody is doing 10yr passport anymore so I don’t know what they are really complaining about
The labour department needs to be investigated to as well take for example when you employees make a report to the department . The labour officers does take bribes under the table and also expose the employees to the employer eventually you lose your job and the labour officers gets his cut form the employer to keep his mouth shut
Imbecile Highgrade, back at you for the constant and useless name-calling in all your posts. Who are you fooling with that nonsense about no countries issue 10 year passports anymore (I made it grammatically clearer). All British and U.S. passports are for 10 years with the exception for children under the age of 16. This is just to name a few, using the more prominent countries as an example. Do you know how many self governing countries that exist in the world who issue their citizens passports and they are valid for 10 years? Why don’t you try a simple google search next time before your itchy fingers start typing and proving your ignorance. Baytease!
I was about to comment and laugh at that scarlet fever fool but Pwayson has done so. I just did some research and in the Caribbean only St. Lucia and St Vincent issue 5 year passports. I guess in this Layba Highgrade red-eyed disease 2 out of 200 is most.
Every civilized country in the world is doing online renewal .. why do we have to be so backward …are we eating too much greenfig ?
All those little passports I have to carry around with visas well taking their toll on me. For those who travel even once a year , this 5 year passport is a big burden. Please remove this and the problems at immigration will be halved. Give back 10 year passports to born St Lucians. All others 5 year duration. Start a new thing. Let the rest of the world follow. So 5 years duration signal u not a born Lucian and still need to be checked to secure your benefits of citizenship.