NID project needs to complete key tasks

 The NID project is one of the high impact projects by the Government and it is funded under the UBS Loan through the Exim Bank of China. 

The project has a three-year life span and is in the final year of implementation.

Surely, there is enough funding available for the project to implement the two key activities – Mobile Registration and Establishments of remaining Fixed Registration Offices in the country by the end of this year. 

In the past years undisclosed sum of money was spent on the project activities by the implementation agencies for the mobile registration and establishment of Provincial Fixed Offices. 

Progress has been made and milestones achieved include; more than 150 000 people registered through Mobile Registration and from the Fixed Registration Offices. 

In establishing Provincial Fixed Registration Office, eight were built and fully are operational. In addition, 14 more provincial Offices will be built and in operation and plan strategies underway to improve customer services. 

Technical changes have been performed in the system to create an option for married women to choose maiden name they decide to use as surnames and will be shown on the NID card.  

A large sum of money was spent and still remained unaccounted for and the result does not equate with the outcome as many perceived. 

However, the real significant of this system people perhaps, misunderstood is that the system is the positive way forward for the country to build first permanent National Population Register Data Base. 

For instance, people who registered their personal data are captured in the system. It’s not possible for one to re-register again or try to cheat the system because once you registered, your personal particulars plus the unique bio features like facial photos and finger prints are already there and it will verify your information.  

The project will phase out at the end of this year; the question is, what is really compelling and important to do now? 

Is it to continue accord PMU support and roll out the mobile registration or built the intuitional capacity of the office responsible in preparation to manage and maintain Offices infrastructure and its ICT system afterward. 

No one wants to imagine such large investment in ruin after the project ends therefore; the Government has done very well in investing into infrastructures and can the responsible authority get their priority right and look at building the capacity of PNG-CIR and not focusing on mobile Registration activities. 

The way forward is to assist PNG-CIR to get their organisational structure approved and funded, get the casual staffs that have spent more than three years working with PNG-CIR to get public servant status and maintain the recurrent function of the PNG-CIR operations. 

Tuka John 

Port Moresby