PM Skerrit addresses Dominicans, shares information on e-passport

Dominica: Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit addressed the people of Dominica through the Annou Pale on Sunday, February 21. Prime Minister congratulated the team of SVG for winning the second OECS/ECCB Netball series, hosted in Dominica.

He further congratulated the team of Dominica for their participation and sportsmanship. He also complimented the organisers for the perfect execution of the event.

He also said that the government of Dominica has been making significant development in the sports industry and added that “The country is committed to building the sports industry despite the economic stress.”

The Prime Minister also emphasised that he welcomed a delegation of the World Bank and discussed various ongoing projects supported by the bank, including Geothermal Energy Development in the Roseau valley. He extended thanks to the delegation for a visit.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit then lauded the Government of Mexico for providing another stock of 2,000 booster doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

On February 21, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit held an interactive session on the ‘e-passport’ with the Minister of National Security and Home Affairs, Rayburn Blackmoore and the police inspector, Deryck St Rose.

During the session, the three discussed “How to apply for an e-passport, why the Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs adopted this new passport and the difference between the machine-readable passport and e-passport”.

While explaining the importance of the e-passport, Minister Blackmoore said that the government has switched towards the more secure travel document – passport, following the need by the partners.

“We must ensure to comply with international standards and practices,” said the Minister of National Security.

The very next question asked by the Prime Minister, on behalf of the public of Dominica, was the difference between the machine-readable passport and the e-passport. The National Security Minister responded that as the name suggests, the new passports would be the electronic passport, or a chip, which will carry all the information about the holder.

The Minister further explained that the passport would have an information chip, which will contain all the details, including the biometric information of the holder. National Security Minister further stated that the new passports would be more secure and will possess security features that will make it difficult to create a duplicate one.

The National Security Minister further stated that a machine-readable passport would be expired in August 2022. The details like payment options, documentation, time, eligibility, and many others were also shared during this session.