ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — Prime Minister  Andrew Holness is encouraging all residents of Mount Salem, St James, and, by extension, every citizen of Jamaica, to get some form of identification.

Speaking to journalists at a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, Western Region in Montego Bay yesterday, Holness said it is extremely important that people take the matter of having proper identification seriously, noting that this will ensure hassle-free passage and verification of status, particularly in zones of special operations.

The press conference followed the declaration of Mount Salem in St James as the first zone of special operations by the Prime Minister on September 1.  This will last for 60 days.

“Citizens of Mount Salem have suggested to us that a special pass could be created to ease the inconvenience that some of them have experienced when interfacing with the various checkpoints,”  Holness noted.

“This is something that the National Security Council is examining. At this point, however, we can make no commitment to that, but we are examining how this could work. In the interim, we want to encourage all residents of the zone and, in fact, everyone to get proper identification where they can be processed easily and where nobody has reasons to question their identity,” he added.

Holness said that one of the Government’s first official intervention programmes will be the holding of a community fair, which will be staged next weekend in Mount Salem.

“This fair will be focused on bringing into Mount Salem services that will assist citizens in getting identification. We will have the Registrar General’s Department (RGD), the passport office, the Electoral Office of Jamaica, representatives of the tax office to issue TRN, representatives from the Social Development Commission as well as HEART,” the prime minister said.