Ministry: Don’t come to POS for your birth paper

EARTHQUAKE damage to Registration House at South Quay, Port of Spain, has accelerated the relocation of the Registrar-General’s Department to the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs (AGLA) Tower at Richmond Street, a senior public official told Newsday today.

This transition means that members of the public can no longer access public documents such as birth certificates from this ministry in Port of Spain, but can do so at the ministry’s branches at Arima, San Fernando and Tobago.

“Thankfully in 2012 our sub-offices expanded to be a complete mirror of our main office,” the official said.

“We have sent additional staff to assist the sub-offices. We expect an influx of people.”

The official said that the day after the quake, the South Quay office had ceased issuing documents to the public. “There was damage, visible damage and invisible damage.” The source hoped the transition would occur “in the shortest possible time” but declined to state a period.

Services which are normally provided at Registration House can now be accessed at the other registration offices across Trinidad and Tobago. This is in addition to the availability and functionality of all online services for registration.

The ministry will be carefully monitoring the usage of these other facilities and the impact upon the public and stakeholders.

The Ministry will continue to meet key stakeholders, with further meetings due from today.