Civil registry moves into new, improved premises
In their new location, employees of the Civil Registry are better equipped to serve the public efficiently and effectively.{{more}}
During a tour of the new premises, at the former location of the Halifax Street branch of the National Commercial Bank, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves stated that the new location is a vast improvement over where they were previously.
Gonsalves also disclosed that over $400,000 had been spent to equip and renovate the new premises.
âThe actual renovations cost nearly $200,000 and the equipping of the registryâ¦the equipping with the furniture, the computers, air conditioners; all the other facilities which are here, cost slightly over another $200,000. So youâre talking over $400,000,â he said.
âWe havenât put in the cost for the multipurpose ID system, which is a grant through the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)â.
The Prime Minister explained that currently, the registry has embarked on digitalizing deeds by entering them on a modern information system.
âSo, youâll have the deeds, not like how you have them in the search room at the moment with theâ¦theyâre dog eared and pages are torn and so on and so forth,â Gonsalves said.
In addition, he noted that measures have been put in place to ensure that secure birth certificates are produced, particularly so that no one will be able to use a fraudulent birth certificate to acquire a national passport.
âIf you have a fraudulent birth certificate, you can beat the system perhaps and get a passport which youâre not supposed to get,â explained the Prime Minister. âWe have had to take very special measures to protect the integrity of our birth certificates. Not only the document itself, which has to be reliable, but the information which you get to put in the systemâ.
In his remarks, Gonsalves commended the registrar and her staff for coping with the move. He also commended the Roads, Buildings and General Services Authority (BRAGSA) for works that were carried out on the building.
Registrar Tamara Gibson-Marks declared that the staff at the Civil Registry were very pleased with their new location.
âWeâre very happy that we can serve the public better and with more ease,â she said. âItâs improved, itâs modernized, we have new equipment and we can work better.
âOur business is to ensure that we serve the public efficiently and effectively and I am assured by my staff that with these new facilities, we are doing just thatâ.
Gibson-Marks also took the time to boast about the countryâs achievements in terms of being the only country in the OECS to be able to produce birth certificates electronically.
Marks added that Jamaica and Trinidad are the only two other islands in the English speaking Caribbean which print birth certificates.
âNo other island is so modernized, so I think itâs a great milestone for SVG and itâs something we should be proud of as Vincentians. We need to commend the Government for the interest they have paid in the registry and we are happy with our new premises,â the registrar said.
The Civil Registry was previously located in the High Court building.(BK)
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