Dear Editor,

Recently the Government of Jamaica gave the public the opportunity to read the proposed national identification system (NIDS) 2023 legislation. I have read the 63-page document and I have some concerns.

First of all, the proposed legislation appears to be voluntary. On page 35 of the proposed NIDS legislation it states:

“I understand that in applying to be enrolled in the national identification system (“NIDS”), and/or upon enrolment, I am entering into an agreement with the National Identification and Registration Authority and in doing so I have been informed of, understand, and consent to the following: … I may cancel my application to enrol and that I may cancel my enrolment in the NIDS at any time…”

However, how voluntary is it going to be if the banks make the national identification card a requirement for doing business with them? How voluntary is it going to be if private sector businesses make it a requirement for transacting business with them? I propose to the Government of Jamaica to include in the proposed legislation a requirement that neither private sector businesses nor educational institutions can make the national identification card compulsory in order to do business with them. If this is not done, then the Government of Jamaica will be depending on private sector businesses to help them get around the legal objection that NIDS should not be compulsory.

My next concern is that the National Identification Number is going to be the same as the taxpayer registration number. On page 35 of the proposed NIDS legislation it states: “The Authority will assign a national identification number (NIN) to me upon enrolment which is identical to the registration number assigned by the Tax Administration of Jamaica (which is now commonly known as the taxpayer registration number (TRN)”

Why is there the need for a NIN since there is already a TRN? Is it that the Government of Jamaica wants to track every transaction by making the TRN the same as the NIN? Bear in mind that the TRN records every transaction that is done with the Government. Does the Government want to widen the recording of what its citizens are doing by using the same TRN for the NIN?

Another concern is the ability of the Government to shut down the national identification card so that it cannot be used. On page 54 of the proposed NIDS legislation it reads: “The electronic and digital capabilities of your card will not be available during the period of suspension.” In the context of the document, this is referring to the National Identification System And Registration Authority cancelling a person’s card for unspecified reasons. This power to cancel the card, against the user’s wishes, could be used by a future Government to punish people who do not agree with some of its policies and laws.

Revelation 13:17 prophetically shows how an anti-God or anti-Christian Government may punish Christians by preventing them from having the means of buying or selling because they do not share or support the policies and laws of a Government that goes against what God has commanded in the holy scriptures or which contradict the teachings of Christ.

This leads me to my last concern. The national identification card is part of an international identification system which is linked to the mark of the beast as it is foretold in Revelation 13:15-17. I am, therefore, advising the Government of Jamaica to abandon this project for it is going in the wrong direction. If it were to be continued, it would make the Government a partner in the One World Government prophesied in the book of Revelation.

A Concerned Follower of Christ