On Friday night we had an exposé of the brick and cone line hustle at the immigration department.
And since our story aired on Friday night some encouraging changes have come quickly. First, police were deployed early this morning to make sure that it's first come, first serve. Additionally, one employee, a security guard has been identified as having colluded with the "agents" on the outside.
Tonight we'll take another look at the activity at the gates but this time we'll ask whether those outside agents are getting help from players on the inside.
On Friday we introduced you to this man, Clement Mangar an immigration agent who doesn't work for the department.
Cherisse Halsall:
"So Sir, you work at immigration?"
Clement Mangar, Agent
"I don't work at immigration I work in front of immigration. I am from the PUP boss."
Cherisse Halsall:
"Now Sir, to be out here we need to know do you have a trade license to conduct this business?"
Clement Mangar, Agent
"That's the same thing you don't need a trade license to recommend anybody?"
Cherisse Halsall:
"And you didn't need a trade license to have them wait in line either?"
Clement Mangar, Agent
"Well, I didn't, that doesn't need a trade license that is the constitutional right you can stand up from two if you want."
Cherisse Halsall:
"And charge people for it?"
Clement Mangar, Agent
"Of course, because it's not like you come out here to bleach for nothing."
And as we showed you last week those activities are well documented.
Cherisse Halsall:
"Anybody charged you for your spot in this line this morning?"
Arthur Augustine
"Nobody charged me but I think I saw a few doing the charging and selling spots in the line."
And while it is certainly a hustle, it's one that some customers have embraced.
Cherisse Halsall:
"If someone had attempted to sell you a spot so that you could get here first for $50, $150 or even $200. Would you have paid any of those prices?"
Laish Varma
"Ofcourse, if my mother has to come and she cannot move or something, I will prefer for her to pay the $50, because is nothing than that, because my mother cannot be suffering four or five or six hours for these small things."
And with Mangar's shenanigans under the spotlight, it stands to reason that the agents on the outside could be getting some help from some agent on the inside.
Clement Mangar, Agent
"They have people in there that take the people in and that is what my C.E.O. wants to know about. Mr. Middleton wants to know who is doing that and that is what is happening and that has to stop."
C.E.O. Middleton and his Director Arzu didn't shy away from addressing those allegations:
Mario Arzu, Director, Department of Nationality and Passports
"We can't really do whatever they do on the outside as long as my officers are not in collusion with them and whatever applications we get to meet the standards for acceptance that's as far as we go. We've had cases and I'm sure CEO alluded to this earlier, where when the individual comes to us and makes a case and puts it in writing we have acted on this. We have brought those individuals in, the ones that we consider to be responsible and we have dismissed two security recently and we have dismissed more in the past, because we consider that they can't quite come into the office to do all these arrangements, so they work with the people on the outside and these people on the outside they want to use as middlemen and middle women whosoever they are to come in to our office and interact with the officers who are responsible for processing. This is where we come in now. We try very much to be vigilant."
"We have worked with our workers internally who we believe are colluding with those on the outside and get rid of them but the human element is very difficult to control."
And on Friday just after our news team left, the Ministry, with the help of three customers, launched a sting operation and identified an employee who had been extorting the public. Via text today C.E.O. Middleton told us that police helped in interrogating the suspect who will be dealt with via due process.
We also know that this morning's line was welcomed in at 4 a.m. instead of the usual 6 a.m. and that the police were there to observe the process to deter the hustlers from selling spaces.
But is a long-term solution for the thriving avenues of enterprise at immigration gates even possible?
Mario Arzu, Director, Department of Nationality and Passports
"A long-term solution? One, we have to make sure that the public accessing these services here in Belmopan diffuses. Thats the first thing, because I guess that is where the advantage is taken of. If you only have 50 people coming for an application process for an entire day, as ought to be the norm, then you wouldn't have this problem. People can que up and wait 15 minutes and they get their services taken care of and they leave. So we are hoping that this come October that this alleviates the issues not only for us who are the practitioners who have this overwhelming responsibility, but for the Belizean people who spend money and time to come from PG, from Dangriga and wait the entire day. Thats the issue. A process that ought to have taken you 20-30 minutes, you spend the entire day in Belmopan which is an additional cost. So, we're hoping that the go live date which we will come back to the media and share that with you and ofcourse expose our new passports as well, because it's not only the new system that we're building, but we also have a new passport book design, so we will come back to you and share all that information."
According to the department, this is the third time this year they've been able to quote, "address an employee's behaviour" after a customer came forward to make a complaint.
They also told us that additional efforts to stop the hustle at the gate include signs that will indicate "no loitering" and "All fees paid to cashier."
The department will also continue to seek the assistance of the police to monitor the gates.
No word yet on if and when an online appointment system will be set up - but we will ask the Minister of Immigration about that when he appears Wednesday night on Uncut.
