Registry to help land groups

 By MOUA OMOA

THE Civil Registry Office will allow for a blanket payment for integrated landowner groups wanting to process birth certificates for their members.

Religion, Youth and Community Development Minister Loujaya Toni told Ambunti-Dreikikir MP Tony Aimo in Parliament that this would assist landowner groups wanting to process birth certificates to register their ILGs.

Aimo had told Toni that the K25 charged for a birth certificate would be too much if payments were to be arranged in clan groups.

Aimo suggested that alterations be done by the civil registry to have a blanket payment of K20,000-K30,000 to cover costs for birth certificates for all clan members.

Toni said: “The fee for processing a birth certificate is K15 but I will allow for a blanket payment so people can have their birth certificates and have their ILG or landowner groups registered.”

She said the department was in the process of decentralising the civil registry office to the 89 districts.

She said each district would have a civil registry office manned by an officer to process birth certificates.

“This will make it easier for people living in remote rural areas or other provinces to have their birth certificates processed where they are rather than having to send their applications to Port Moresby,” Toni said.