The Registrar Generalﾴs Department is on the road to full automation by January 1, 2006, according to Minister of Financial Services and Investments Allyson Maynard-Gibson, who believes this will be a significant achievement that will directly benefit thousands of Bahamians.
In an interview with The Bahama Journal this week, she pointed out that the online service would be of particular benefit to Family Islanders, who in the past have had to travel to New Providence to seek the departmentﾴs basic services.
“All they have to do is make a request, pay and their documents will be returned to them in their community,” Minister Maynard-Gibson said. “[There is] no longer a need for airline tickets and hotel rooms which are of a huge cost.”
As of June 1, all deeds and documents submitted to the Registrar Generalﾴs Department will be indexed, scanned and returned within 30 days, according to officials.
Persons would also be able to conduct online searches on the indices from 1993 to the present and officials promise that indices from 1993 back 30 years will be available as soon as possible and no later than January 1, 2006.
Minister Maynard-Gibson noted that it is also significant that persons would be able to search online from their personal computers or from the departmentﾴs terminals.
Under the new arrangements, documents submitted from June 1, 2005 may also be printed online within 30 days of submission, and documents submitted prior to June 1 may be printed online no later than January 1, 2006.
Officials also announced that certified documents will be available within 30 days of request.
The Minister said that the government has been working ever since it came to office to affect this kind of change at the Registrar Generalﾴs Department to keep The Bahamas in pace with the rest of the world.
“We will have also on January 1, birth, death, and marriage [certificates] available online along with intellectual property [documentation] which will be rolled out systematically,” the Minister said.
A fee for a search of the Deeds Registry will remain at the current rate of $10 per hour, until further advised, according to officials.
But the Minister pointed out that the only way to access the network is by going into the Registrar Generalﾴs Department and pre-paying for that access. Family Islands, she explained, would have to pay for the service through their local administratorﾴs office until officials are able to put in place a real time payment system.
“We donﾴt have real time payment because The Central Bank of The Bahamas is ironing out with clearing banks the required platform for real time payment,” she said. “So for now what you do is go and make a payment with a certified cheque, cash or credit card.”
Officials explained in an advertisement running in newspapers this week that these payment methods will permit the Registrar General to expedite the processing of documents.
To facilitate the efficient recording of deeds and documents, the Registrar General has announced the implementation of certain procedures: the pages of all deeds and documents, including backing sheets, should be numbered sequentially; the use of bindings and staples should be limited; and all plans attached to deeds and documents should be 11″ x 17″ or smaller in size to facilitate the ease of the imaging process.
Minister Maynard-Gibson noted that the achievement is due in great part to the hard work of the public servants who are a part of the process of brining the department online.
“On January 1, people of The Bahamas will understand what I mean about those dramatic changes brought about by public servants, who are extraordinarily professional and ought to be applauded on a daily basis,” she said.
Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
