Border Management System being underutilised
In the report, it was revealed by Chief Immigration Officer Dennis Jennings, that the present state of the enTRex system is functional with minor inconsistencies in relation to connectivity and physical conditions in some locations. This however, he noted, did not explain the major problem of the reluctance by most officers to utilize the equipment. He asserted that there is “no way to properly assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Border Management system unless all parties involved carry out their required functions.”
“In this era,” he continued “and I think it is safe to say, those to come, the use of technology is vital to enhance the human resources in terms of storing and retrieving of information readily.” He further stated that “the winds of change and inventions in every sense are occurring at such rapid pace that unless we use technology very little or nothing can be done to protect our borders.”
In the report, it was noted that “Once all ports are utilizing the system to process entry then the exit by manifest method will alleviate the problems faced by the department due to lack of staffing.” With the use of the eMBS, any individual who departed before apprehension by the department could be flagged and subsequent action taken against them should they try to re-enter the Territory.
While suggesting the need for technical adjustments which were due to some aspects of the actual enTRex software being poorly designed as a result of specifications sent at the time to the manufacturers by the Department, Jennings countered that the application was already functioning; he went further in saying that “now all changes must go through a phase of research and development before they are implemented.”
Training of officers in use of the systemThe enTrex system, the Chief Immigration Officer stated “will be upgraded as funds are available and officers will be required to constantly undergo training in order to meet, maintain and exceed the required competence levels.”
There was also a proposed initiative of a temporary project to input the departmental entry permit records into the enTRex Database. He stressed that this “would entail the temporary hiring of 3 capable individuals to enter all the departments entry permit and residency records. After the individuals should be retained to maintain departmental records as day to day processing is done.”
This initiative is geared towards better management of information and electronic record keeping which will eliminate the need for the actual subject file to be pulled at every instance when minimal information is required.
This, the report continued, allows for a more proactive enforcement initiative as individuals who fail to renew entry permits can be identified and approached in the initial stages, as such eliminating the freelancing which often happens when individuals do not have gainful employment at the expiration of entry permits.
The eBMS was reintroduced by the Immigration Department at ports of entry across the Territory in December of 2005. According to former acting Chief Immigration Officer Mr. Malvern Brathwaite, Entrex is a computerised electronic border management tool for the processing of persons travelling to and from the British Virgin Islands. Among other things, he added, the system would make pertinent passenger data readily available with the benefit of speeding up the processing of repeat visitors and tracking persons who are deemed undesirable based on the Immigration Ordinance.
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