National Planning clarifies issues on NID registration process

Letters

The article on ‘Delay in NID Cards a Worry’ (The National Oct 2) requires correction and should not be seen as the true story of what is going on.
The commentator on this issue is the provincial registrar for Morobe province and as a provincial registrar he is duty bound to communicate with the PNG civil and identity registry headquarters on issues and matters regarding the operations of the provincial registry operation in Lae.
That is the only way the operations should be perfected at some stage. All provincial registrars are encouraged to do so.
The weekly registrations are at 3000 across the country, this is an indication of commitment and I commend those staff in the provinces for the good work.
The focus of the PNG NID project was to establish infrastructure and develop the system in the 22 provinces and the PNG NID project has delivered 18 provinces.
Each province is installed with computer equipment, and the necessary ICT equipment has been assigned to individual staff for ease and flow of registration.
The staff are short-term government contract officers. When the structure is approved and the positions are advertised then they can apply for the positions.
At this juncture everyone is advised to visit their nearest provincial registration office and get registered as 18 of the 22 provinces in the country have a provincial civil and identity registry.
Mobile registration kits are specifically designed for offline registration. This is only utilised when there is request and all related expenses are considered and approved.
It is not designed for permanent registration on a given site.
The mobile kits have been recalled and mobile registration activities have been stopped until the PNG civil and identity registry is fully functional and then the registration approaches can be decided.
For issues relating to registration, contact the helpdesk on 3133 000 ext 7021 or email [email protected]

Hakaua Harry
Secretary
Department of National
Planning