Massiah offers weekend services on Barbuda, while MP Walker pushes Civil Registry to reinstate its facilities

Barbuda MP Trevor Walker says that he and the Barbuda Council
will be paying keen attention to an event described as a “Passport
and Civil Documents Drive” that is taking place on the sister-island
this weekend.
 
“Don’t be left out,” a flyer now in circulation encourages residents,
as the processing of passports; birth-, death- and marriage-
certificate applications; and notarization of documents will take
place on Saturday, February 17, and Sunday, February 18, on
Barbuda.
 
MP Walker says that, prior to Hurricane Irma in 2017, these were
services offered by the Central Government.

However, he says, this weekend’s services are being facilitated by
attorney Joanne Massiah, who reportedly claims to have received
calls for such assistance from Barbudans.

 Apparently, it is very costly for sister-islanders to access these
services at present, since they have to find airfare or ferry fees to
Antigua, where they also must pay for accommodation, food, and
transportation.

Walker says the flyer immediately caught his attention; and – since
he was hearing a particular rumour – he attempted to make contact
with Massiah to verify what was going on.

The MP says he has raised, in Parliament, the issue of these services
being returned to Barbuda; however, the Government is yet to make
them available.

Meanwhile, Walker says he has been assured that Massiah’s
weekend service-offer is a one-time event, based on the alleged
demand.

In the second quarter of this year, the MP says, these services will be
offered, on Barbuda, by the Central Government, according to
assurances given by the head of the Civil Registry.
 
According to Walker, a location for this operation has already been
identified, and persons employed at the Barbuda branch of the Post
Office have already been to Antigua to sort out how the event will be
managed.
 
Walker admits that having sight of the advertisement has sent his
imagination into overdrive, knowing the lengths to which the

Browne Administration would go to gain full control of Barbuda and
its people.

Barbuda MP Trevor Walker.