$1.33 Billion to Implement NIDS in 2019/2020

The Government will be spending $1.33 billion to implement the National Identification System (NIDS) in the 2019/2020 fiscal year.

The allocation has been set aside in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.

The money will be used to commence piloting of NIDS with public-sector employees and continue the recruitment of key NIDS staff for the Project Enforcement Unit (PEU), in the Office of the Prime Minister.

It will also go towards the continuation of the NIDS communication campaign; completing the digitisation of the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) records; and procuring hardware and software to establish necessary hosting and enrolment sites.

Up to December 2018 under the project, key NIDS staff had been recruited for the PEU; and a NIDS Public Engagement Portal had been developed and launched.

In addition, NIDS hosting, production and enrolment sites had been identified and workstations approved; and the National Identification and Registration Bill was approved and the Regulations developed.

The project, which is being implemented by the Office of the Prime Minister, seeks to establish a unique identification number for individuals and develop a secure, efficient and reliable database of all Jamaican citizens.

It is being funded by the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The project is slated to end in November, 2023.