By Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News|
PORT MOURANT, GUYANA — Decentralizing public bureaucracy and bridging the rural-urban divide achieved a major milestone on Wednesday as the newly constructed Government of Guyana Service Centre officially opened its doors to the public in Port Mourant, East Berbice-Corentyne.
Senior Minister within the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, spearheaded the high-profile commissioning ceremony. He was accompanied by Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha and Minister of Public Service, Government Efficiency, and Implementation, Zulfikar Ally, to declare the “one-stop” regional hub fully operational.
Addressing a large gathering of Berbicians and regional representatives, Dr. Singh called on local residents to aggressively embrace the government’s expanding digital transformation agenda. He noted that the state is methodically establishing these physical centers across highly populated coastal and hinterland catchment areas to function as hardware anchors for a modern, tech-driven public sector.
“We have been rolling these service centers out in various heavily populated communities to serve key catchment areas,” Dr. Singh stated, explaining that modern technology is fundamentally reshaping how everyday citizens interact with state institutions. “The Government Service Centre is supported by the digital platforms that we are rolling out. We don’t want you to have to join a line. We don’t want you to have to wait hours and hours to get service. We want you to be able to sit in the comfort of your home and apply for government services.”
The state-of-the-art facility brings a wide array of vital public services directly to the Corentyne Coast under a single roof, completely eliminating the historical, costly necessity for Region Six residents to travel long distances to New Amsterdam or Georgetown.
The Port Mourant center will immediately process high-demand transactions, including:
- Immigration & Passports: Seamless application, renewal, and specialized Saturday collection loops handled by the Guyana Police Force Immigration Department.
- Taxation & Licences: Complete compliance arrays, driver’s licence renewals, and corporate filings managed by resident Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) desks.
- Civil Registries: Fast-tracked processing of birth, death, and marriage certificates via the General Register Office (GRO).
- National Identification: Immediate on-site registration and distribution for the new National Electronic Identification (E-ID) cards.
Dr. Singh recalled that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration had made a definitive campaign promise to build a “Digital Guyana,” asserting that the swift deployment of these one-stop centers proves significant, uncompromised progress toward that national goal. He urged residents to take full advantage of the localized infrastructure, highlighting that public adoption is essential to maximizing the efficiency of the state’s digital platforms.
Beyond administrative convenience, the Finance Minister framed the facility as a gateway to an impending wave of industrial and economic development earmarked for Berbice over the next decade. Dr. Singh revealed that thousands of new, highly specialized jobs are being unlocked across Region Six via the construction of the New Amsterdam and Number 75 Village regional hospitals, the deep-water harbor, a major stadium and mall complex at Palmyra, and a massive industrial complex housing a secondary gas-processing facility and petrochemical plants.
By strategically centering the new service hub in Port Mourant, the government aims to ensure that as the regional economy scales up, small business operators and working families possess immediate, streamlined access to the regulatory and financial state mechanisms required to anchor lasting economic success.
