The new Commissioner of Passports, Mr Yaw Adjei, said on Wednesday that his office has initiated measures to clear thousands of passport applications within the next few weeks.

"The staff of the passport office have, since my appointment, started working at weekends to ensure that the backlog is drastically reduced," he said.

The Commissioner was interacting with passport applicants who were at the passport office to either collect their passports or follow-up their applications.

"We are doing this to ensure that within the next three to four weeks, those whose applications are without fault receive their passports," he said.

Mr. Adjei, however, cautioned the public not to put pressure on the staff saying: "We will not countenance situations which will bring pressure on our staff because every application will undergo the necessary procedure before qualifying for the issuance of a passport."

Mr. Adjei advised passport seekers to stay clear of the passport office, saying, "we do not want to see crowds at the entry points of the office anymore."

"Your presence there is an eyesore. We are instituting this new measure at our discomfort to ensure that you are satisfied," he said and expressed the hope that applicants will reciprocate by staying away until the passports are ready.

He said officially, passports are supposed to be collected at the Immigration Offices, except for a few special cases. Mr. Adjei said given the limited staff situation, inadequate facilities and occasional power failures, delays in issuing of passports are unavoidable.

"Whilst we are making frantic efforts to meet the four-week deadline, the existing bottlenecks in our operations make delays a necessary evil," he said.

Some passport seekers complained about misplacement of their application forms and delay in the embossment of issued passports and, appealed to the Commissioner to ensure the safety of the forms and a speedy embossment