Government has assured the nation that the production and
processing of passports is set to increase following the availability of
machinery and printing paper.
This comes after members of the public have been
complaining that the Registrar-General’s Office was taking time to process
passports.
Sources at the Registrar-General’s Office revealed
yesterday that they were printing only 30 passports a day. Additionally,
emergency passports are no longer being processed as promptly, as required by
procedure.
In an interview yesterday, Home Affairs and Cultural
Heritage Minister, Cain Mathema admitted to the dire situation, but said the
issue was being resolved by Government.
“Members of the public should not panic. We are working on
it. Yes we have been facing some challenges, but I would want to assure
passport applicants that we have managed to overcome some of these challenges.
“Passports are being done, the paper is now there and the
machinery is there. Our people should not panic, we might not be able to
produce the numbers that we want at the moment, but we are working on it,” he
said.
In April this year, the Registrar-General’s Office
co-operated fully with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission in its inquiries
into allegations of delays in the issuance of passports and national
identification documents.
The investigations come after members of the public
complained that the department was taking time to process passports and
identity documents.
In an interview then, Registrar-General Mr Clemence Masango
said he was aware of the inquiries that were being conducted and assured the
people that their offices were ready to serve.
The Registrar-General Office said it was also concerned
with the high number of uncollected passports some of which were processed in
2000 and cost the applicants more than $590 000.
Some of the passports were applied for as urgent and got
priority over non-urgent applications despite the department’s limited
resources.
Addressing a Press conference early this year Mr Masango
said some of the passports had expired before being collected.
Zimbabwean passports are valid for only 10 years.
The number of uncollected passports applied on normal basis
are 50 733 and least 11 144 passports have since expired. Herald
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