Departments Merge Functions

The Immigration and Citizenship Authority (ICA) recently launched the merger of the Foreign Employment Division to PNG Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority at the Central Government Office in Port Moresby.

Dignitaries in attendance at the event included Prime Minister James Marape, Minister for Immigration and Border Security Westly Nukundj, Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations, Tomait Kapili and Chief Immigration Officer, Stanis Hulahau among other heads of departments.

Chief Immigration Officer Stanis Hulahau said: “We have successfully merged the work permit and the visa in the last two weeks.”

 

“We have now concluded the first phase of the process. We still have second and third phase to go, and that is to merge the two systems. So that we can have a one stop shop, one visa, one work permit system to put together the processes and the standard operating procedures.

“We have set the regulations to ensure that we achieve the one stop-shop hub for the government to deliver ease of doing business as well as to effectively police and monitor border security for our country,” Mr Hulahau said.

 

The merger of work permit and visa will contribute to ensure improved efficiencies in processing work permits, and the issuance of work visas.

Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations, Tomait Kapili and Minister for Immigration and Border Security, Westly Nukundj, expressed the need for cooperation between both departments to ensure the success of this merger.

 

Minister Nukundj said: Talks for the merger emerged in 2012 in the Alotau Accord, as a key priority activity for immigration.”

“This remained on our agenda since 2012, for a very long time. It took some time because of lack of administrative drive. In addition, there was lack of government policy will. Compounded by bureaucratic politics and differences triggering an inexcusable delay over the last nine years.”

“Immigrations will now facilitate the processing and issuance of entry permit as well as the work permit.”

 

He appealed to the government to have all border agencies, border security, and border protection related agencies to be under one oversight body.

“So that our activities are monitored to be seen as us doing one thing under one oversight body than to be doing two or three different things and the country not moving or the departments not moving.”

 

In his keynote address, Prime Minister James Marape said: “Our borders need to be tight and secured, our borders need to be ensured that we don’t have strangers and aliens in our country but those who are proper to come in to do business here, certain qualification level that we don’t have in our country enters.

 

“I am happy that this is ticked off amongst many legacy issues that we are ticking off and clearing out as a government in the last two and a half years. When we took office in May of 2019, our country had many deficiencies in our system.”

 

“We are here at this juncture in which we are strengthening the system that takes in foreign visitors into our country to ensure our gates and our borders are secure. Our borders must be secure from now and into the future, there is no more time for complacency. There is not a time for corruption or human induced element or weaknesses in our borders.

 

PM Marape encouraged Ministers Kapili and Nukudj to ensure that work permits and visas are issued to visitors who will contribute to the training and development of Papua New Guineans.

He said the merger amplifies the protection of PNG’s borders to ensure that people who visit add value to the country’s economy.

“I want immigration to step up. Deliver to us a corruption-free highly effective computerized based standard of approval of visa that goes real time.   

 

 “For those who are visitors in our country, who are working or residing in our country in some sort of permits, or work permits etc. Well you have been here to train our people to take your position,” said the PM.

 

Prime Minister Marape encouraged the ICA by saying: “You are not only a revenue-making entity for the State, but more importantly you are an agent of government that secures our border for the prosperity of Papua New Guinea’s children now and children into the future.”

Author: 
Marysilla Kellerton