Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang said that the government will expedite arrangements around the legislation pertaining to a new Passenger Name Record (PNR) system at airports across Jamaica, as they seek to solve the issue of long waiting lines and crowding.

In a recent times, videos have been circulating on social media showing long lines and crowding at the Sangster International Airport, also known as MBJ, with reports that travelers spent hours waiting to be processed. This led to a public outcry for the government to address the issue and enable ease of movement through the airports.

The PNR system is a digital certificate allowing passengers to do online check-in or manage their bookings in a shorter time.

While speaking on the issue at a meeting at the Montego Bay airport last week, minister Chang said it is his hope that the legislation will be completed by November 2023.

“We are striving to have this piece of legislation completed somewhere around November late this year. It is known that this system will aid in a very important way to alleviate the sort of congestion we now have in the arrival hall here at the MBJ,” said the minister.

In other jurisdictions, the PNR facilitates the exchange of booking information between airlines and has become an important component of the travel industry. It also acts as booking confirmation, a repository of valuable commercial information and can be a useful weapon against global terrorism.

In the meantime, the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) and other stakeholders will be moving aggressively to encourage the usage of PICA’s Enter Jamaica portal that can be accessed here.

According to the ministry, the portal, designed to ensure ease of access to Jamaica, is currently being used by only seven per cent of incoming travellers.

The ministry future noted that there are presently 36 immigration desks and 45 Kiosks at the MBJ, totaling 81 immigration contact points.

However, Andrew Wynter, chief executive officer of PICA said that 120 contact points are needed to enhance efficiency at the MBJ and work is being done to have the numbers increased.

Wynter shared that 15 additional Kiosks will be brought into MBJ before the end of April 2023 and that the AAJ and PICA are working to add approximately 18 more by July 2023. An additional 10 PICA officers will also be added to the staff at the MBJ.