The Government will, in the 2023/24 fiscal year, focus on operationalising the National Identification System (NIDS) project.

To this end, focus will be placed on getting the National Registration and Registration Authority and the National Identification and Registration Inspectorate up and running.

Both are the primary institutions through which the services related to the NIDS will be delivered.

This was outlined by the Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke as he answered questions from the Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Julian Robinson, during the recent sitting of the Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee that examined the 2023/24 budget.

Robinson wanted to know when Jamaicans will begin to receive the NIDS card and when a full-scale public education campaign will be rolled out.

Clarke said coverage will be expanded for enrollment activities to begin during the fiscal year and a number of post offices will be modified as additional enrollment sites.

“We’re going to tender for 19 post offices across Jamaica to be modified as NIDS enrollment sites,” he shared.

Under the programme, the implementation of the NIDS card will continue as well as Operation Birthright for needy Jamaicans to receive free birth certificates to enable them to enroll in the NIDS. At the same time, the digitisation and indexing of the civil records at the Registrar General’s Department will continue.

Additionally, the project requires continued work with the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency “to implement electronic ID, the e-passport and to enable e-gates at our major international airports,” Clarke said.

The project will also continue to personalise public engagement around the identification card and the strengthening of security and privacy controls around the card.

Regarding the public education campaign, Minister with responsibility for information, Robert Morgan, reminded that the NIDS project is being run jointly by the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

“There are particular approaches to the procurement procedure that has to take place; there was a procurement process for a supplier to deal with the public education campaign in the last quarter of last year. The procurement process is being finalised currently along with the IDB for final approval with the supplier,” he explained.

“I suspect that within this quarter the public education efforts will start before the rollout of the sites,” he added.

While 19 sites will be part of the procurement process, there will be 24 sites overall.