Former Minister of Immigration Brent Symonette has criticized Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell for the ministry's introduction of a $200 emergency passport-processing fee, stating that Mitchell's use of the fee as a corruption deterrent constituted a "sad day" for the Passport Office. Speaking with Guardian Business, Symonette raised concerns over the reasoning behind the emergency fee, which was introduced last month in part to fight corruption, along with the general increase in the cost of attaining a passport in The Bahamas. "I think that's a sad day to whitewash everyone at the Passport Office to say they're corrupt because we have to put in this fee. Is that what the minister meant?" Symonette said.

Following criticism of the $200 processing fee, Mitchell said that the fee was introduced in part to combat bribery arising from applicants attempting to bribe passport officers to expedite the process, stating: "I want to stress that one of the reasons the fee has been implemented for emergencies is to eliminate any suggestion or attempt to offer money to people on the side to get the process advanced."

While Symonette commended Mitchell for overseeing the introduction of the equipment that serves as the backbone of the ministry's passport process during the first Christie administration, he questioned the swelling expenses associated with obtaining a passport in the country. "The FNM decided to keep the cost of passports at $50 against the recommendation of the public service, because we wanted Bahamians to be able to afford a passport, not burden them with a $100 fee," he said.

Symonette also lamented the cessation of the Passport Office's previous practice of servicing family island communities through onsite visits. "That doesn't exist anymore. Why? They tell me because there's no money in the budget, well, tell the minister not to fly on one of his trips. Use that money because it's the Bahamian public. Then you go and charge $200 for a fast fee."

Shadow Minister of Immigration Hubert Chipman fiercely criticized the emergency charge, stating that Bahamians were in essence being taxed for poor management. As of last month, there was a 12-week wait for a passport once an application was filed. The excessive backlog of 6,500 passport applications within the ministry's system lead the ministry to bring in additional staff and equipment. Passport Office officials previously stated that the office was receiving 200-300 applications per day and was able to process 1,000 per week.

Although the backlog was a familiar predicament during the summer months, Symonette questioned the ministry's current strategies. "One of the reasons we didn't have a long list when I was there was that we hired 10 people from The College of The Bahamas to do data entry and we worked two shifts. Mr. Mitchell, just do that, very simple. Don't blame everyone, go and check yourself why these passports aren't being issued. Instead of throwing the blame, just go and deal with it," said Symonette.

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