Immigration Department needs more manpower on account of homeporting activities, officials say

As information comes to light that Antigua and Barbuda is getting
set to phase out paper immigration forms, the Immigration
Department is complaining that its human resources have been
stretched to the limit.
 
This reportedly is due to the homeporting initiative started last year,
2023.
 
Reports say that the Cabinet, on Wednesday, January 10, met with
Chief Immigration Officer Katrina Yearwood and six of her senior
officers to discuss their challenges.
 
The chairman, the acting general manager, and several officers of
the Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority (ABAA) were also
invited to the meeting to address the issue of crowding at the airport
on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

A decision was taken that all eight immigration booths are to be
manned by officers in order to reduce passengers’ time to be
cleared.

Antigua and Barbuda plans to phase out paper-based
Embarkation/Disembarkation (ED) forms to make the entry
procedures more efficient – particularly at the airport.

Accordingly, the Immigration officers reminded the Executive that
the elimination of hand written E/D cards, “if replaced by electronic
systems, will greatly accelerate the time which visitors … will spend
in the crowded airport,” the Notes say.
 
Meanwhile, the Immigration officials also reported to the Cabinet
that homeporting at Heritage Quay requires officers to be present at
five different entry points.

Therefore, the demands on the service have caused a stretching of
the human resource component of the Department.
 
As a result, the Executive was asked to hire additional officers, who,
after a three-month training programme, could be deployed to meet
the needs of the seaport.
 
In the meantime, the Notes say, “the ABAA officials called for
additional resources to enable the kiosks to be built and deployed in
the arrivals area and for the necessary computer programmes to be
installed….”