Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall on Friday, February 3, visited the Ancient Country of Berbice where he interacted with the staff of the Deeds Registry, members of the Berbice Bar Association, and residents and informed them of government’s plans to transform the justice system.
Addressing the staff of Deeds Registry, Minister Nandlall informed them that government is in the process of looking at a number of issues which will not only benefit them but will also see the registry being run efficiently and effectively.
“I am aware of the deficiencies that exist in the system as I have received several complaints which have been along the same lines… nevertheless there are several programmes which have started even before I assumed office… these programmes were intended to improve the general efficiency in the system,” Minister Nandlall said.
Towards this end, Minister Nandlall said that there is a Deeds Registry Authority which was enacted in 2001 but became operational in October 2011 because of the necessary measures that needed to be in place to make the act functional.
“That act is directed to improving the efficiency and to modernise and restructure the registry… principally, the act establishes a board that will manage the affairs of the registry… there is also a programme under the competitive strategy which is intended to bring about technological changes to the operations of the Deeds Registry by replacing the manually driven system to one that is computer driven,” Minister Nandlall said.
The successful implementation of these programmes by government will see the Deeds Registry offices being completely modernised with computers being used not only as a means of storage of documents, but also for everyday transactions.
This, according to Minister Nandlall, will result in an efficient service being offered to members of the public and it will also help with an efficient delivery of justice, as the entire justice system will benefit from similar upgrades.
During the interaction with the staff of the Deeds Registry, it was clear that trained and competent staff who would be proficient in the use of such technology would be needed, further there is a need for staff to be professionally trained in certain technical areas of law as it will significantly improve the quality of service being provided by the registry to the public. “While this route is an area which is governed by the Public Service Ministry, the ministry will try its best to make representations for persons who are inclined not just to qualify themselves and move on, but to stay in the system and help with its upgrade,” Minister Nandlall said in response to their concerns.
