Decentralising NID role eyed

THE PNG Civil and Identity Registry is looking at decentralising the role of National Identity (NID) card registrations to district and provincial governments, National Planning Minister Richard Maru says.
Maru said in Parliament yesterday that the biggest issue causing the delay in processing and issuing birth certificates and NID cards was the fact that all NID applications were processed, printed and issued only in Port Moresby.
“We are now looking at changing this approach to decentralise it to the districts for the chief executive officers of the district development authorities to take charge,” Maru said.
“We are looking at increasing our printing machines so that the applications can be lodged in the provinces and the districts, assessed there and birth certificates and NID cards issued.”
Maru said the NID project had cost the government a lot of money and that huge cost was basically to buy the system.
“The government has allocated K20 million this year and we are rolling the registration out to the districts and the provinces now so we are changing the approach.”
Maru also said all birth certificates and NID cards for MPs who were already being registered would be issued during this session of Parliament.
Markham open MP Koni Iguan told Parliament yesterday that the registration and issuing of birth certificates and NID cards were too slow despite government spending a huge amount of money, up to K130million.