KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Government is inviting public comment on the regulations being developed for the National Identification and Registration Act, which was passed in Parliament last November.

“The regulations will go on the National Identification System (NIDS) project website for the public and media to provide feedback. It will then be finalised for submission to Parliament,” explained Chief Technical Director in the Office of the Prime Minister, Jacqueline Lynch-Stewart.

Lynch Stewart noted that the regulations, which will underpin the governance framework for NIDS, are being developed through a multi-sectoral working group, which includes representatives from the church, civil society, and the public and private sectors.

She indicated that the regulation to guide enrolment for NIDS will be uploaded for feedback in short order.

Lynch-Stewart, in the meanwhile, said the project team is utilising research and international best practices in the implementation of the NIDS project.

“In putting in the system, we are making sure that we are using international best practices for everything. So we have done a tremendous amount of research in relation to the countries that have introduced a national ID system. We are learning from the errors and successes of other countries,” she said.

The pilot for the NIDS will be rolled out in January 2019, starting with public-sector workers.

Lynch-Stewart said a community will also be selected for roll-out of the pilot.

“We haven’t taken a decision as to which community will participate in the pilot [as yet], but this is so we can get a feel of how the system functions and learn from it, so that when we reach to the national roll-out, we would have had some experience as to what worked and what didn’t,” she said, adding that it will take approximately three years to complete enrolment of at least 80 per cent of the population.