Condemned not to travel?

If you do not take three days leave in Cyber island where Mauritians are supposed to make an application online for a passport, you are condemned not to travel.

Mothers with babies and toddlers are advised to make provision for bottles, nappies, food and enough money as they will have to go back to the Rose-Hill Passport Office at least three days in a row if they want to get a passport.

DAY ONE: is your first encounter and you are shocked to see so many miserable faces. Mothers are cuddling their crying babies and toddlers are running here and there. You do not know where the queue starts and where it ends. Fortunately, you see a tiny pink paper in the hands of some of them and you sniff your way around until you become a number. I was number 36.

After one hour?s long wait the crowd got bigger and bigger; I asked the passport officer if I had any chance to be served. He politely replied that people should go to the Passport Office in Port-Louis where the queue is smoother. After 30 minutes, I returned home and went back at 2.00 p.m. Seeing the hall only half-emptied, I left my pink card with the officer who advised me to come earlier the next day.

DAY TWO: I got number 30 at 9.15 a.m. I went back home and returned to the Passport Office at 2.00 p.m. I handed over my pink paper as the office closes at 2.30 p.m. Only 18 people were lucky.

DAY THREE: was my day. I got number 20, returned home and went back at 1.30 p.m. I could not believe my luck as number 17 was being served and number 19 was not there. At 1.45 p.m. the Officer started to check my papers. I was so grateful that even when he refused to accept the photocopy of my birth certificate, which he found was done from an old certificate, I rushed back home to get a recent one. By the time I got back, I had to wait as a lady was being served. He looked at my papers again and told me that I had not put the country I intend to visit. He, however, accepted my explanation and kept on with his scrutiny. He suddenly told me that he could not accept my application as the police should have checked my address ?de visu? and put a stamp. I rushed out of his office mumbling that something should be done as people cannot spend a whole week trying to get a passport.

How lucky I was to have been burgled a week earlier as the CID knew me and accepted to stamp my application on the spot. I went back to find a furious passport officer raising his voice telling me that I was using my power to insult him. ?Ki ou kroir akoz ou enn madam, akoz ou servi pouvoir ou kroir ou kapav insilte moi.? I told him that I realized that he was under pressure being the only one checking all these papers but wanted to know what I had said to offend him so much. He kept on saying that I was abusing my power.

But he must certainly know that he is the one wielding power. He decides whether I should travel or not. I do not know when my papers will be processed as I must become a number again and I do not know which number I will be.