President Sirleaf receiving a copy of the new passport
One of Ghana’s leading security printing companies, Buck Press, has received praises when the Liberian e- Passport whose printing contracted it landed was outdoored with outgoing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf becoming the maiden recipient.
Earlier, the outgoing President performed the official launch of the e-biometric travel document alongside the opening of an Expedited Application Service Centre at the Bureau of Passports and Visas of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Giving a background of the e-Passport, the Deputy Minister of Legal Affairs, Cllr Deweh E. Gray informed President Sirleaf that the negotiations with Buck Press Limited, the Ghanaian company, was an inter-agency collaboration including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Liberian Revenue Authority, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, National Security Agency and others.
Buck Press, by this feat, has proven that it can handle every modern security printing; their sophistication not posing any challenge.
The new e-Passport is characterized by advanced technology which will no longer have a 3D barcode but rather a RFID microprocessor chip implanted into the book without the ability of detecting it physically with the eyes or touch of the hand. The e-passport will hold all ten fingerprints in addition to the facial image of the holder on the RFID
An elated President Johnson-Sirleaf had remarked just before the launch of the standardized e-Passport that ‘I remember the days when I was denied a passport by my country but because I was working in the United States and had a resident permit at the time I was issued a refugee travel document which I used for international travels.’
One of the priorities of the Liberian Foreign Ministry, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said, is the commitment to handle passport requests in Accra and Abuja.
With the launch of the travel document, Liberia has become the latest country to become an upgraded member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The Liberian authorities are said to have expressed delight that Buck Press has delivered on time as required of them at the signing of the contract for the production of the e-travel document.
By A.R. Gomda