Amendments to Passport Act not being brought to legitimate corruption – PM

The amendments to the Passport Act are being made to give a proper legal foundation to administrative matters put in place earlier this year, not to exonerate or legitimate alleged corruption, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has said.

When the House of Assembly resumes next Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., the Passport (Amendment) Bill 2014 will have its first reading.{{more}} The Bill will be tabled by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

Last week, when the Bill appeared on the order paper for the May 29, 2014 sitting of the House, the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) cried foul, stating in a release that the Bill “appear[s] to remove the possibility of bringing legal action against corrupt and unscrupulous passport officers who may have misconducted themselves over the past five years.”

They NDP were referring to Clause 6 of the Bill which reads as follows.

(1) “Every passport issued for a period of more than five years prior to the Commencement of this Act and the regulations made under the principal Act is declared to have been validly issued”.

(2) “The fees set out in the Schedule to this Act which were levied, charged, and collected by the Passport Officer prior to the commencement of this Act and regulations made under the principal Act are declared to have been validly levied, charged and collected.”

(3) All actions by the Passport Officer in relation to the issuing of a Passport and the charging and collecting of fees which are validated by subsections (1) and (2) respectively are validated and declared to have been lawful and the Passport Officer and every person acting on behalf of the Passport Officer are freed, acquitted, discharged and indemnified as well against the Queen’s Most Gracious Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors as against all other persons from all proceeding of any kind in respect of or consequent on any such actions.

(4) All money received by the Passport Office in proponent of the fees validated under sub-section (2) is declared to have been lawfully paid to and received by the Passport Officer and the Passport Officer and every person acting on behalf of the Passport Officer are freed, acquitted, discharged and indemnified as well against the Queen’s Most Gracious Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors as against all other persons from all proceedings of any kind in respect of or consequent on the receipt of such money.”

Prime Minister Gonsalves, in an interview on Shake Up on We FM on Tuesday, however said there is nothing sinister about the Bill. He said the validations in the Bill pertain to collection of fees for the new 10-year e-passport which the government began issuing on March 3, 2014, and no other charges.

Gonsalves explained that government began collecting fees and issuing the passports before the fees had been published or gazetted.

He said Item 6 (1) of the Act is to make the new 10-year e passports valid; item 6(2) makes the collection of the fees in the schedule lawful.

“The validation does not apply to any other fee, “ he asserted.

Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Hans King, in a letter to the editor published in Searchlight on June 2, also said the Bill does not exonerate or legitimate alleged corruption.

“Clause 6(3) and 6(4) of the Bill are necessarily consequential upon the validation of the issuance of the passports and the fees in Clauses 6(1) and 6(2). They protect the actions of the Passport Officer and any other person acting on his behalf pursuant to the validation in Clauses 6(1) and 6(2) regarding issuance of the passports and the collection of the fees. It is important to note that the validation of the fees relates to the fees in the Schedule which are the fees for the new 10-year e-passports,” King said in the letter.

“All we are doing is to set the administration matters which we have put in place on a proper legal foundation,” Gonsalves said on Tuesday.

The prime minister stated that anyone who charges more than that which is stated in the Schedule to the Bill for the new passports, could be charged either civilly or criminally.

He also said the Bill had nothing to do with allegations of corruption or over charging for passports, that had been made in relation to the New York Consulate.

“It has nothing to do with any NY office, any consulate, it has absolutely nothing to do with any alleged corruption; they haven’t shown it and the director of Audit doesn’t say that. There is no corruption at the NY consulate,” the prime minister said.

He describes the accusations made by the opposition as “wild charges”.