Former Minister says he never gave directive

On the immigration front, former Minister of National Security and Immigration, Jorge Espat, has denied a report aired last night on News 5 that he issued a directive to withhold the processing of nationality applications by certain groups of immigrants. Speaking over the phone, Espat told News 5 today that upon assuming the immigration portfolio in 1998 he issued a directive to freeze all nationality applications pending an assessment of immigration policy. This, he said, was completed within eight weeks and he then issued guidelines to begin processing all applications, with the requirement that all applicants seeking nationality by virtue of residence would have to appear in person. If this is the case then the question arises of why that personal appearance directive was not followed under the new minister and how the backlog of Chinese and Indian applications was allowed to build up.