The Cabinet invited the Chief of Immigration Officer, six of her senior officers; the Chairman, the General Manager (Ag.) and several officers of the Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority (ABBA) to its meeting, in order to address the issue of crowding at the airport on Saturday and Sunday afternoons when as many as a thousand tourists land at the VC Bird International Airport within a two hour period.
It was determined that all eight (8) immigration booths are to be manned by officers in order to greatly reduce the wait-time of passengers to be cleared.
While that was agreed, the Immigration Officers reminded that the elimination of hand written E/D Cards for entry, if replaced by electronic systems will greatly accelerate the time which visitors, arriving in Antigua, will spend in the crowded airport.
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 for increased efficiency and effective services.
2.ii. The Immigration Department also reported that homeporting at Heritage Quay requires its officers to be present at five (5) different entry points; consequently, the demands on the immigration service have caused a stretching of the human resource component.
As such, they requested of the Cabinet to hire additional immigration officers who, after a three month training programme, could be deployed to meet the needs of the seaport.
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In addition, customs need to use K-9 to sniff for contraband and forget about trying to open suitcases which slows down exiting the airport.
Realistically with weight restrictions and personal exemptions, more revenue is collected at cargo ports than at the airport checking suitcases.
Also opening suitcases and searching through personal property is demeaning.
Antigua is a tourist destination and should want people to come and stimulate the economy by spending money during their stay.
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