Friday, Jun 20, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: A Dubai resident's holiday plans have turned into a small nightmare when his passport, supposed to have been delivered by Empost, never arrived.
Anthony Penderis, a South African journalist who was scheduled to travel to the US on June 22, had to apply for a temporary passport and now has to re-apply for a US visa.
He submitted his passport to the US consulate to get a visa on June 3 and was expecting delivery by Empost within four working days. He got worried because of a long delay and inquired at the consulate.
"I was told of a batch of 96 passports that had been submitted to Empost to be delivered, three had gone missing and one of them was mine," said Penderis.
He decided to get in touch with Empost with the tracking number given to him by the consulate, but his passport could not be found. "I will now get my temporary passport at 1pm on the day I am travelling," said Penderis.
Sultan Al Midfa, CEO, Empost, said incidents like these were regrettable and did not reflect their normal high standards.
"We fully understand what has happened cannot be undone. Nevertheless, we have found the loopholes in the system and are currently in discussions with the US Consulate to revamp the procedures.
"On good faith and bona fides, we usually collect a bag containing the passports and sign off the manifests they give us." He said Empost does not have facilities at the embassy to scan passports that are being collected.
He said Empost followed up on the inquiry from Penderis but could not find the missing passports. Appropriate remedial and precautionary measures have been put in place.
"We have had over 9 million deliveries of passports and visas since 2002 and our track records are immaculate," said Al Midfa.
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