By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE Passport Office yesterday defended its decision to levy a $200 fee to those seeking to obtain a Bahamian passport within 48 hours on an emergency basis, saying the charge will compensate the office for the costs incurred by emergency requests caused by poor planning or “negligence”.

The Passport Office added that only a limited number of people will be affected by the decision.

In a statement released yesterday, the office justified its reasons for implementing the fee, such as dealing with persons “who chronically lose their passports, largely through negligence,” as well as dealing with last minute applicants who booked expensive trips without realising their travel document was expired.

The Passport Office also criticised DNA Leader Branville McCartney for suggesting that the government was “cashing in” on its inefficiency by implementing the fee.

The office said Mr McCartney’s statements were “patently misleading and untrue. Further branding his comments as “disappointing”, the Passport Office said the “realities” of the country’s current resources dictate what it “can reasonably do without breaking the bank”.

“The statements and assertions by (Mr McCartney) on the fee for emergency passports are patently misleading and untrue. The emergency fee does not apply to any person who

applied for a passport before July 1, 2015. It is not cashing in on the public. It will affect a very limited number of people. By simply planning ahead, the fee is not applicable.

“The realities of the resources the country has at the moment to deal with these issues dictate what we can reasonably do without breaking the bank.”

The Passport Office said it has been “inundated with requests from people who planned trips costing in the tens of thousands of dollars but did not check to see before they attempted to travel if their $50 passport had expired.”

“They would present themselves to the airport and find out there that the passport expired; then run to the Passport Office and expect the Passport Office to produce the passport within minutes, dropping everything to serve them.”

The statement added: “Sometimes people have been called in on weekends and after hours to fulfil these emergency requests. Inevitably, one of the reasons why people who followed the rules and applied in a timely manner could not and cannot get their passports on time is because of these untimely requests. The fee is meant to compensate the office for the costs incurred.”

“In addition, it is meant also to deal with those who chronically lose their passports, largely through negligence. The department is not in a position to meet the overtime costs without some source of payment.”

The new fee will be placed on applications received after July 1 for those who need their passport within 48 hours, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last weekend.

However, those who have applied before July 1 and were given a certain date for the production of passports will not have to pay the new fee if the passport is needed at short notice.

The regular fee for passport renewal is $50.

There is also a $200 charge in addition to the cost of the passport for anyone who has lost two passports or more within a 12-month period. This fee is not payable where there is medical emergency.

On Monday, Mr McCartney, former state minister of immigration, condemned the move to tax passport applicants who require their documents within a 48-hour period as “third-world mentality”.

Yesterday, the Passport Office said a system has been put in place for applications submitted by July 9 by persons who have travel plans prior to the collection date on their receipt; those whose collection date has expired; and for those persons who have not received the passport and are in urgent need of the document.

These persons are urged to email their information and details of their application to mofacustomerservice@bahamas.gov.bs.

Dedicated staff has been assigned to process the emails, track the application and expedite the application to meet the date of travel or commitment requiring a passport at no additional cost, the office said.

Applicants will then be emailed a new collection date.

The Passport Office also urged the public not to pay any fee to a passport officer other than what has been outlined in the prescribed regulations.