NGOs, churches ready to help in ID project

 By JUNIOR UKAHA
A NON-governmental organisation in Morobe has called on the Government to partner with other stakeholders to roll out its National Identification (NID) project.
Morobe Anti-Violence Foundation director Robert Katiwa said groups like NGOs and churches have well-established networks in rural areas of the province and the Government can ride on them network to implement its NID project.
Katiwa welcomed the recent opening of a new civil registry and NID office in Lae and said his group was willing to assist the Government to have the programme rolled out if need be.
“I have nine coordinators in the nine districts of Morobe and about 500 volunteers on the ground who can assist the Government,” Katiwa said.
“We just need the right training from government officers so that we can team up together and go into the rural areas to do awareness and actual registration of people,” he said.
“Morobe is a big province with nine districts, 33 local level governments and 556 wards.”
Katiwa said if the Government expected people to travel to Lae and register for the NID it will take longer or might never happen because many people in rural areas did not have the money to travel to Lae.
“We must bring this service to their doorsteps.
“The LLG presidents, officials, councilors, magistrates, NGOs and churches must be engaged to see the NID project implemented.”