GRO holds outreach in Kwakwani

Georgetown, GINA June 13, 2016

Residents from the Kwakwani community were able to apply for birth, marriage and death certificates when the General Registrar’s Office (GRO) held an outreach in their community. They were also able to do late registrations and minor corrections to birth and death certificates. The outreach saved them the time and money they would have had to spend to travel to Linden or Georgetown to access the same services.

Searcher Transcribers, GRO, Lisa Major, Arianne Williams and Sherry Jerome made up the team providing the services.

The two day activity saw many residents coming from near and far to apply for their various certificates. Major explained that the activity is now being facilitated after a long time. “We achieved what we came to do. People are happy and we are happy,” she said.

Residents express satisfaction

Diane Deandrade, a resident of Kwakwani  said, “I feel the process is good, at least I come and meet the officials face to face and I hoping now to get the right spelling for my daughter’s name because it been wrong for a long time. The process is very simple, just had to sign something over and they done sort it out and get back to me with the right spelling on the birth certificate,” she said.

Rayaurd Thom, a resident of Kwakwani expressed his satisfaction at the ease of the process, “I’m very pleased to know that we can have some officials coming into Kwakwani to do birth certificate, marriage certificates and other certificates. It is very good for the people in Kwakwani here because they don’t have to travel way out to Georgetown to do that because it is very expensive so we are very happy. The procedure is quite easy and simple for us here because we have a lot of people that don’t have birth certificate or had hard time registering so it is very good.,” Thom said.

“I glad about it because is only two days ago I went down to Linden to try to get my birth certificate but they told me I got to go down to town (Georgetown)so I glad for this exercise. When the previous government was there I spent a lot of money and I didn’t get through. It is a wonderful process,” Augustine Telomano said of the exercise.

Another Kwakwani resident, Ceeclene Cummings, whose daughter never had a birth certificate, is hopeful that this exercise would change that.  “I go through a lot and I hope now I get through because, is all round we try and I’m very glad that now she (her daughter) can  get a birth certificate. I’m very thankful for the process.”

Ilyne Persaud, “I want to get my birth certificate ‘cause I want to be baptized. I want give myself to Christ I trying and I hope I get it. The process is nice and beautiful, I thought they would have charged more but I’m thankful.”

Residents who also never had birth certificates were also among those who benefitted. The cost of the application is $300 and the exercise will continue along the Berbice riverain communities.

The GRO falls under the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Ministry of Presidency.