Ali announces mobile government services for overseas Guyanese

CASTRIES, Saint Lucia, CMC – Guyana’s President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, says his government plans to establish mobile government service centres in countries with large Guyanese diaspora populations to improve access to essential public services for nationals living overseas.

Ali announced the initiative on Tuesday during a town hall meeting with members of the Guyanese diaspora in Saint Lucia, where he attended the 51st Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

“We want, at least once every year in the beginning, to take the mobile government service across every country where we have a large diaspora, so we can service that diaspora with one unit, whether it’s NIS, birth certificates, replacement of any document and all of these things,” Ali said.

He said the initiative is intended to bring government agencies directly to overseas Guyanese, making services more accessible while complementing the country’s ongoing digital transformation.

Ali also announced plans to deploy mobile biometric passport services to overseas communities, allowing Guyanese living abroad to complete passport-related procedures without travelling home.

He said the government’s recently established one-stop service centres across Guyana have significantly reduced waiting times for many public services by bringing multiple agencies together in a single location.

Also in the works is a programme to allow Guyanese living overseas to benefit from free online programmes offered by the University of Guyana (UG). Alis said the government is advancing plans to extend tertiary education opportunities to the diaspora.

He explained that the vision is for Guyanese overseas, including their children, to access online degree programmes at no cost, just as students in Guyana currently benefit from free tertiary education.

During the meeting, members of the diaspora were invited to submit their contact information and details of issues requiring government assistance. Ali said the information would be entered into a central database to allow officials to begin addressing concerns raised.

The president also encouraged overseas Guyanese to return home, invest in the country and contribute to its continued development.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Service, Government Efficiency, and Implementation, Zulfikar Ally, encouraged Guyanese abroad to take advantage of the government’s Citizens Connect mobile application, which provides a faster and more transparent way for people to have their concerns addressed by public agencies.

“For any issue you have, you just put it there directly to the agency where you have the issue, and they have 24 hours in which they have to respond to you and work with you to fix the issue. That is managed directly from my ministry,” Ally said.

He noted that the platform enables users to track every stage of their complaint, from the time it is submitted until it is resolved, ensuring greater transparency and accountability across the public service.

The minister also highlighted the application’s early success, noting that 800 issues have already been resolved since its launch a few months ago.

“The remaining matters involve things like gun licenses that cannot be completed within 24 or 48 hours, but we are engaging with those citizens, and at least they have an explanation from the government,” he said.