Government to discuss passport at upcoming budget

Vincentians will hear in the budget address next month of the government’s plans to further strengthen of the nation’s passport.{{more}}

“I will make certain announcements about further strengthening in the budget speech, with what we call an e-passport, which is going to … have more security features,” Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said on radio on Friday.

The Vincentian passport has been the subject of controversy recently.

Canada, in September, listed unreliable travel documents among its reasons for imposing visas for Vincentian passport holders to visit the North American nation.

The controversy deepened further after a report that the government had received 25,000 passport books without the “Observations” page and distributed nearly 15,000 of them.

Gonsalves and other state officials have said that the passports were distributed after consulting the relevant international agency.

They further said that the remaining documents were destroyed after Canadian Bank Note, the firm that manufactures the passport books, replaced the defective batch. (kentonchance@searchlight.vc)