When they digitized the civil registry and statistics unit last December, one of their aims was to reduce the long lines and waiting period for a document, but the public did not take into consideration that there would be changes as well to the nature of the physical documents like a standard birth certificate.
Instead of a fence paper with an embossed seal, applicants are now given a flimsy typing sheet with a QR code to scan. With that code, they can print the certificate on any type of paper or reproduce it anywhere.
But progress does bring problems and some have questioned the authenticity of the document.
The attorney general addressed those concerns today and he says that they are working on it.
Anthony Sylvester, Attorney General
"So some of my colleagues as well have suggested and recommended that we look into that and so indeed we just had a meeting with the Registrar and the Solicitor General this week in terms of looking at that moving forward. Because in our stream of consciousness as Belizeans we are used to having a more sturdy paper, something more glossy, something that looks more, looks different than what presently obtains. Now the whole purpose of digitizing is to allow persons to have more easy access and as I had mentioned back in December is to reduce the need for you to purchase more than one birth certificate. So once you have an electronic copy you can print it on any paper. So you yourself could print it on a more sturdy or more glossy paper if you wish. But what establishes the authenticity of this certificate is the QR code. And so, but again, suffice to say it is a real concern and it is something that we are looking at. And as I was reminded by one of my colleagues we have to take it into consideration what our people tell us and so we made this adjustment to try to allow for a greater more efficient access of the service. But there are certain realities we have to take into consideration so short answer to your question we are looking into that."
