Dear Editor,

It was the National Democratic Movement — under the leadership of our longest-serving president — the late Earl deLisser, which first proposed a national identity system/card for Jamaica, but I am now very concerned about certain aspects of the current Bill, which has been passed in the Senate and now goes back to the House of Representatives, to implement a national ID system.

We should be all concerned about the indecent haste with which the current Government is trying to run the Bill through the Parliament.

I endorse the stand taken by People’s National Party senators in demanding more time to properly examine and debate the Bill and make further amendments before giving a final vote. We should expect nothing less from our lawmakers.

We, the people, must take a firm stand where this proposed system is concerned to ensure that there is no abuse of our fundamental rights and freedoms with what seems to be some excessively intrusive aspects of the Bill being rammed through the Senate.

Peter Townsend

President

National Democratic Movement

ndmjamaica@yahoo.com