First NIDS Enrolment Centre Completed

The first National Identification System (NIDS) enrolment centre has been completed and is expected to be handed over this week.

It is located at the Central Sorting Office in Kingston and will be the first site to roll out the NIDS Pilot Programme at the end of the year.

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, made the announcement during a post-Cabinet press briefing held at Jamaica House, in Kingston, on Wednesday (October 12).

Mr. Green, who has responsibility for NIDS, also informed that contractors are already procured for four additional enrolment centres throughout Kingston and St. Andrew.

A NIDS pre-enrolment software is also expected to be completed by the end of October to early November. This will allow citizens to log their information into the NIDS database and make an appointment to visit the enrolment site.

The Minister pointed out that members of the diaspora will be able to engage and register for a new identification card, once they are a citizen of Jamaica or have been a resident for at least six months.

He said that already, a team from the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) and the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) have engaged 500 Jamaicans living in the United Kingdom on matters such as birth certificates, among others.

The buildout of a facility to digitise RGD’s records from 1930, according to Minister Green, is 90 per cent complete and “we expect to open that facility in November to begin”.

Meanwhile, three workshops were conducted with banks, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Jamaica Bankers Association.

“We’ve looked at the legal framework around NIDS; we’ve looked at the verification process and the most recent workshop [focused on] the security features of the national identification card. So, now our banks are fully [aware] of what to look for in relation to security when we roll out,” the Minister said.

Mr. Green pointed out that the NIDS Regulations were completed and sent to the Attorney General’s Chambers.

“We have gotten a response and now we are in the process of finalising those Regulations, based on the advice from the Attorney General’s Chambers,” the Minister noted.

He said the Regulations will be published for public feedback before it is tabled in the House of Representatives.

The full rollout of NIDS is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2023.

NIDS is a unique, reliable and secure way of verifying an individual’s identity. It will establish a reliable database of all Jamaican citizens and will involve the issuance of a unique lifelong National Identification Number to every person.