Government moving to boost immigration staff

Mcneill	Morrison

Janet Silvera
Hospitality Jamaica Coordinator

WITH THE hope that approval will be granted to employ more immigration officers to man both international airports, the Ministry of National Security is preparing a submission for the Ministry of Finance.

Both the Sangster International in Montego Bay and Norman Manley airports have been reeling from the impact of the acute shortage of immigration officers, which has resulted in long lines and lengthy waiting hours by passengers.

The situation, which has threatened to derail the predicted bumper winter tourist season, forced an emergency meeting among Ministry of National Security officials, tourism stakeholders, aviation interests and immigration personnel on Monday.

Dr. Wykeham McNeill, minister of state in the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, told Hospitality Jamaica, following the emergency meeting, that the decision was taken to immediately
reorganise the scheduling of the working hours of immigration officers to better manage the flow of passengers during peak hours.

ADDITIONAL STAFF

He said that this was only a provisional measure. "Given the increase in passenger load, we will have to bring in additional staff in the long term," said the junior tourism minister.

It has been more than three months since the crisis became apparent, just before the start of the winter tourist season. On any given day, only eight to 12 of the 16 cubicles assigned to immigration are manned.

"Even with all 16 booths, we will probably experience some delay, but not to the extent it now is," said Curtis Grad, vice-president of operations, MBJ Airports Limited, operators of the airport.

Mr. Grad suggested that the matter could be dealt with exp editiously if recruitment and training of officers commence quickly.

In the interim, the immigration's public image has since been scarred, with many Jamaicans and several visitors complaining bitterly.

"Immigration is not very welcoming to people who haven't been here before," said Lytton Jarman, an English visitor who has been coming to Jamaica for the last 10 years. "The lines are too long coming in. That is our only problem with Jamaica."

Dennis Morrison, chairman of Airports Authority, who also attended Monday's meeting, expects the situation to improve considerably within the coming months with the new terminal building at Sangster geared to providing the most modern conditions.

"We are making very effort to improve and expand the space and other facilities at both airports in order to facilitate the growth in passengers," he told Hospitality Jamaica.

The Sangster International Airport now accommodates some 2,000 passengers per hour during peak season and the Norman Manley International Airport processes 1.5 million passengers annually.