CJIA’s statement creates an impression of a flawless system

Dear Editor,
It is pleasant to know that a Public Relations Officer by the name of Ms. Shunza Samuels of the CJIA, Timehri indicated that there is a Lost and Found System at CJIA. I believe that this is a bit of “whitewashing” by Ms. Samuels, which is usually the job of Public Relations Officers, and Public Relation Officers normally do this when institutions are caught in disappointing situations.
In the case of the gentleman of whom I had spoken, the passport was not at any Lost and Found Department or in the Airport Duty Office with neat little telephone numbers, as shared in Ms. Samuels’s letter in the media of 2nd February, 2023.
Reliable information led me to confirm that there was no Lost and Found at CJIA Timehri during the time when the passport went missing. This can be confirmed by the telephone records placed to two senior managers of CJIA, who were contacted on the missing passport. It would be absurd to think that there would be a Lost and Found Department/System at CJIA and two senior persons in administration would not know of its existence.
I do not wish to make this a continuous form of communication, nor do I wish to mention the names of the two senior officers; but, most importantly, it took more than five weeks for the Immigration Office to realize that the passport was not uplifted. With this gentleman being as popular as he is, one would have thought that contact with the individual would have been established much sooner.
A pleasant gentleman from the Immigration Department eventually made contact with the popular gentleman’s office, on seeing that the passport was still at the Immigration Department.
Therefore, I wish to recommend to the administrative authorities at CJIA that a sign be placed at the Duty Office Door reading “Lost and Found”. And all departments and administrative persons should know that this is where Lost and Found items are kept. In addition, a register log should be created, wherein entries of Lost and Found items are documented with the dates and times the items were located and entered into the system, and the name of the person making the entries – along with entries of items that were returned. Further, a website to send enquires to the Lost and Found Department at CJIA and to track updates on lost items should be established.
I wish to thank Ms. Shunza Samuels, Public Relations Officer of CJIA, for trying to clarify the matter, but the statement seeks only to give the idea of just wanting to create an impression of a flawless system in place when this is clearly not the case, as in my experience.
It is satisfying to know that the matter has been highlighted in the media, and has caught the attention of the relevant administrative and managerial persons with responsibilities for management at CJIA, Timehri.

Sincerely,
Mrs Katherina
Roshana