Over 700 health workers registered by Civil Identity Registry

By PETER WARI
MORE than 700 health workers in Southern Highlands have been registered by the Civil Identity Registry (CIR).
The registration, which was carried out by civil registry officers over a 10-day period, will see the workers receive national identification (NID) cards.
The NID cards can be used to open bank accounts, acquire passports, personal identification and even be used for biometric voting.
Southern Highlands health authority (PHA) chief executive Dr Joseph Birisi said the officers visited the province’s five districts, with the exercise ending on Friday.
He said the officers also found that 103 health workers had already been registered.
Birisi said the Southern Highlands PHA had arranged for the NID team to come in from Port Moresby to carry out the registrations.
He said having staff registered with the CIR would also improve the PHA’s management of the workforce.
“As a government agency, it’s vital for us to monitor our payroll so that we have one person, one position, one pay,” he said.
Birisi said it was a government requirement that all public servants had to have NID cards in order to address waste in public expenditure. He said with the PHA’s employees registered with the CIR, they could plan for staff training, repatriation and exit from public service.
Birisi said PHA staff, from top management to aid post orderlies, would be provided uniforms.
CIR team leader Jack Steven said the Southern Highlands PHA was the first to partner with them to register its health workers.
He said after the NID office in Mendi was broken into a few years ago, it was hesitant to return to Southern Highlands.