Huambo — The provinces of Huambo, Bié, Benguela, Cuanza-Sul, Cubango, Huíla, Namibe and Cunene have had a Regional Electronic Passport Issuance Center since Monday, as part of the modernization and digitization of immigration procedures.
Inaugurated by the Minister of the Interior, Manuel Homem, the center, located in the interior of the city of Huambo, specifically on Rua Governador Sousa Gentil, has three production machines with the capacity to issue 180 passports/hour, which amounts to 1,440 documents/day and 7,200/week.
This is the first infrastructure of its kind built outside the country's capital (Luanda) equipped with support areas, quality control, customization, operations room, production and sorting, ensuring a greater response to the needs of citizens in the Center-South region.
At the same time, the Minister of the Interior, Manuel Homem, accompanied by the local governor, Pereira Alfredo, held the inauguration of the National Police Command in the province of Huambo, located in the upper part of this city, with 52 offices, 14 departments and 48 sections.
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Finally, in statements to the press, Minister Manuel Homem reiterated the continuous need to improve efficiency in issuing passports across the country.
Therefore, he continued, the electronic passport issuing point in Huambo, with a satisfactory installed capacity, will guarantee the response to the operational demand for this document in the central-southern provinces of Angola.
He explained that the Luanda Center, taking into account its capacity for eight thousand passports per week, continues to be the main one that guarantees efficiency in the operation.
Manuel Homem highlighted that the Regional Electronic Passport Issuance Center is a milestone for the Foreign Emigration Service (SME) taking into account the ongoing paradigm of decentralization of the process.
He made it known that, since the beginning of the operation of these electronic documents, more than two thousand passports have already been printed, which means that they are being responded to with the capacity of demand.
As for the new National Police Command in the province of Huambo, the minister said that the building will provide better working conditions for staff and allow for a quick response in terms of public security in this region of the country.
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In turn, the governor of the province of Huambo, Pereira Alfredo, said that this is an important infrastructure for issuing electronic passports in the Center-South region of the country, which is why all necessary support will be given so that migratory acts can take place normally.
He appealed to users, after issuing their passport, to appear at the SME post, upon notification, in order to collect this document, which allows mobility outside the country, avoiding the constant abandonment that sometimes occurs.
As part of his working day of a few hours in the province of Huambo, the minister delivered eight vehicles of different brands and models, for greater staff mobility and for the new model of proximity policing. ZZN/ALH/DOJ
