The Senate will be meeting tomorrow morning at nine o’clock at Gordon House in an effort to complete the debate on the National Identification and Registration Act 2017.

The Bill seeks to introduce a National Identification System (NIDS) as a unique, reliable and secure way of verifying the identity of individual Jamaicans, and to establish a reliable database of all citizens.

It will involve the issuance of a unique lifelong National Identification Number NIN) to all persons residing in Jamaica.

However, after smooth sailing of the Bill through the House of Representatives in September, it met upon a roadblock on Friday created by Opposition senators who are insisting on more consultations, despite the Government’s insistence that it has had the necessary discussions with a wide cross section of stakeholders.

The Opposition is also calling for the Bill to be sent to a joint select committee of Parliament for further review. But the Government has insisted that it has been in the process of becoming legislation for more than 30 years and is now critical for meeting the targets for Jamaica’s Vision 2030 development plan.

President of the Senate Thomas Tavares Simpson confirmed yesterday that he was aware that the Opposition has been seeking to delay the passage of the legislation. However, he said that he recognises that it is critical to the country’s development and has agreed to resume the Senate’s deliberation on Monday.

The legislative process in the Senate, which was started on Friday, November 3, by Leader of Government Business Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, broke down last Friday night during a marathon meeting which started shortly after 10:00 am Friday and lasted until 1:20 am Saturday morning, when Tavares Finson agreed to a suspension, in order to release members, as well as the staff of Gordon House and the related ministries.

Senator Tavares Finson also confirmed that he will be meeting with the leaders of Government and Opposition business in the Senate, prior to the meeting of the Senate Monday, to discuss the issues arising from Friday night’s confrontation between the Opposition and Senator Johnson Smith over her reference to the recent achievements of blind Senator Floyd Morris in response to his call for a further delay in the debate.

“I intend to meet with both the Leader of Government Business and Opposition Business, as well as (Opposition) Senator Floyd Morris, to resolve the issues which have arisen since the start of this debate, and to have things return to normal before we meet on Monday morning,” he told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

The issue was triggered by a request from Opposition senator Floyd Morris to have the sitting suspended to allow him time to absorb changes made to amendments to the Bill proposed by the Government in response to concerns raised about its provisions.