All NID offices to reopen

By JIMMY KALEBE
MINISTER for National Planning and Monitoring Sam Basil announced the reopening of National Identity (NID) offices throughout the country after it was temporarily closed due to the Covid-19 state of emergency.
During the announcement in Lae yesterday, Basil also declared the start of work into the extension of the Momase regional NID office in the Morobe capital.
The extension was to make sure people coming in to get themselves registered have conducive area to wait to be called for registration.
“Earlier on, we noticed people queuing up outside in the sun to be registered so we are now improving the facility to make people feel comfortable,” Basil said.
Basil thanked Morobe Governor Ginson Saonu and the provincial administration for the K200,000 contribution towards the project and said this was an important office in terms of getting people registered quickly in preparation for the 2022 national election.
“Come 2022, we want to see that many people in Morobe province and others going to polls for the national elections use NID cards for identification purposes.”
Basil said with the reopening of the NID offices around the country, the ‘new normal’ practices that were in place were taken into consideration with protocols to be observed by NID staff.
Basil also announced that the NID office in Lae would now work closely with Angau Memorial Hospital to register new-born babies.
“The hospital will provide details of babies born and transferred to the NID office to produce birth certificates and this will be the same for other provinces.”
Saonu said the contribution by his government was to ensure people were served effectively. “This is a national project but because it is here, my government is happy to support it as it will be the regional office here serving the Momase region. Our contribution is to make sure people are served well.”