The tiny RMI passport office is soon to get a new home.
President Hilda Heine told the Journal that the government has approved renovating the former cafe and grocery store that sits between ELM Motors and Majuro Water and Sewer Company in order to turn it into an office for the passport program.
“It’s a bigger space and we are hiring two additional passport workers so that we can streamline and fast track issuance of passports as needed,” she said in an interview with the Journal.
The President said the new location will also be more accessible to older people and those with disability as it is on the ground floor. In contrast, the current passport office is on the second floor with an extraordinarily steep staircase for accessing the office.
A ramp is to be installed as part of the renovation process for the new facility, she said.
President Heine said the government was focusing on improving the passport operation in order to better serve the public.
Finance Minister David Paul told the Journal Monday that the Ministry of Works is in charge of the renovation, which is supposed to be completed in about three months.
He also said that a Ministry of Finance staff will be placed at the passport office so that the payments can be made at the same time as the application is submitted, saving customers time and money.