Home Affairs Minister Dr Virginia Albert-Poyotte has defended the cost of the new e-passport after the $250 price tag came under scrutiny recently.
The price tag has caused quite a stir on social media, however, Albert-Poyotte, this week, explained that the increase was necessary. The e-passport, which was launched this week, will ultimately replace Saint Lucia’s machine-readable passport in order to boost security measures and meet international standards.
“We call for change but when change comes there is a lot of resistance and this is what we (must) address at this time, in terms of how our Saint Lucian public will receive the presence and use of an electronic passport. The challenge we have on our hands right now is the cost of the passport and I have been (to) every media house to defend that because it’s not the persons who administer the use of the passport who (must) face the challenge, it’s the Government of Saint Lucia,” she said.
“(People are asking) why this exorbitant increase? I had to tell them that the passport that costs $80.00 should have been $150.00 many years ago but government decided to subsidize the passport. The nature of the passports that we have is one that requires a very sophisticated instrument and even with (the aforementioned) cost government still has to subsidize (it). It is not a cheap exercise,” Albert-Poyotte noted adding “and I understand why because (the) security of our country is of critical importance.”
Individuals, in various social media posts, argued that government did not consider how the cost would affect citizens, especially since the cost of living has increased significantly; Albert-Poyotte recently noted that the fee was proposed by the previous government.
She also indicated that the price would not affect indigent persons.
“People were arguing (that) the poor man (will not) be able to purchase a passport at this cost. Hundreds of people come to my constituency office, and they have never asked me why the passport is so expensive. What they (tell) me is we need a job. They ask me for medical assistance, support for their children (and) food because the persons we define as vulnerable and needy, these are the priorities for them and the persons who would have to travel, we know that these are persons who would be able to afford the passport,” she said.
According to Albert-Poyotte “these are the kinds of conversations we need to have with our Saint Lucian population so that they understand and they begin to appreciate that measure undertaken by the government to ensure that we keep them safe in this country. Today I’m very pleased that we mark the launching of the passports and I cannot wait to have my electronic passport.”
The new e-passport will last for a period of five years; however, many individuals have complained about the short time frame and have made it clear that they are not pleased with the matter.
Albert-Poyotte responded to the abovementioned saying “I also had to defend the duration of the passport. (People were asking) why not 10 years rather than five years and I had to tell them the longer we keep an old instrument, the more useless it becomes. The shorter the period, you have an opportunity in the event that the security measures are compromised to make the adjustment to keep the country safe. For many years we have been having five-year passports but people are complaining… because of the increase in prices.”
The minister also expressed faith in the Canadian Bank Note (CBN), the company behind the e-passport, describing CBN as a reputable organization.
“I need to congratulate the Canadian Bank Note (for coming) up with this very technical and sophisticated instrument to allow persons to enter and exit our country in a safe manner. I had to explain to the Saint Lucian public what the Canadian Bank Note is all about because they (were asking) how can we trust this company and I had to tell them that this is the same company that produces the currencies that we have,” she said.
According to her, “if they trust (it) they should trust whatever is in the passport because if we do not have security measures, it means that people could just produce thousands of our passports and this will compromise the integrity of our passport (and) our security; countries around us regionally and internationally, would not trust that document as a legal document for travel.”
The minister also praised the Department of Home Affairs for working tirelessly “to get this process going for us (to) realize the benefit of this instrument. I need to congratulate the police force especially the immigration department and Mr. Lucious Lake who has worked with them. We are benefiting (from) the sweat and hard work of these people.”