MONTEGO BAY, St James — With more than 340 people killed in fatal crashes since the start of the year, government parliamentarian Floyd Green has appealed to Kiwanians for partnership in crafting a new campaign to change the behavioural culture on the roads.

“It’s [motor vehicle crashes] destroying families, it’s tearing apart communities and the reality is we need a cultural shift in our behaviour on the roads. And, of course, the Government has a part to play and we have passed the new Road Traffic Act which was long in coming and we’re going to move to enforcement,” said Green, who has direct oversight of the National Road Safety Council.

“I do believe that cultural change requires an all hands on deck approach. And it’s something that we don’t speak about enough and I would love to move it up the agenda so that we are speaking with one voice to speak to say our citizens, that the behaviour on the road has to be modified”.

Green, who is the minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, and overseas the national identification system (NIDS), was speaking at a joint Kiwanis Club of Montego Freeport and Montego West Village installation ceremony and changing of the guard at Hotel Grand-A-View in Montego Bay, recently.

Meanwhile, Green told the gathering that NIDS will overtime eliminate the numerous forms of identifications that exist, stressing that when the new system is rolled out, the nine-digit Tax Registration Number (TRN) number will become the NIDS number.

“So if you already have a TRN when you go to sign up for your national identification card, you won’t get a new number, that TRN will become your national identification number. And vice versa, if you sign up for your national identification card first without having a TRN, then you are going to get TRN, you wouldn’t have to get a new number,” he explained.

“Over time that will replace another number for you, NIS. Your NIS number will be linked to your national identification number. So you won’t have a challenge when your NIS card is lost.”

He said with the first card production centre and first enrollment centre now ready, the first pilot will kick off in Kingston and St Andrew by year end. He added that enrollment is projected to get underway in Montego Bay and other parish capitals between the first and second quarter of next year.

He challenged the Kiwanians to partner with him with the training of elderly citizens so that they will not be left behind in the digital transformation.

“But why I need you as the Kiwanians is because we will need messengers. We will need people in the field who are helping to speak to Jamaicans. This has taken too long, let us get it done. Because it is a voluntary system, it will have to take buy-in from our citizens. And I don’t know anybody who’s better at convincing people, than Kiwanians,” Green argued.

“So I am saying to all of your clubs that I am willing to come sit with you, have a meeting where we can help dig into some of the things that we’re doing around the national identification card, answer some of the questions that people have.”

Anthony Cameron is the new lieutenant governor for the 24 clubs in the county of Cornwall. He took over the reign from Kaydeen Miles Campbell.

Nordia Anaje and Conway Martin were installed as the new presidents of the Kiwanian Club of Montego Bay West Village and Kiwanis Club of Montego Bay Freeport, respectively.