Government to Get Rid of Life Certificate Regime

The Government is moving to eliminate the need for a life certificate to verify the living status of a pensioner.

This will be done with the introduction of a new national civil registration solution, which is being facilitated through the National Identification System (NIDS) project.

“This solution will be able to link all our records from birth, marriage, deed poll and death records. We have a process in Jamaica that is called a life certificate. People who are on the National Insurance Scheme pension, every four months they have to find a Justice of the Peace (JP) who has to verify that they are still alive,” Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, said.

“The most vulnerable among us have to go to get a JP to say that they are alive, and why that happens is because there’s no link between our records. So, if somebody passes away, there is no automatic process for you to know. This Government will get rid of the life certificate regime. So, we are procuring a new civil registry solution to link all our records, and we are going to be introducing our national identification system,” he added.

He was making his contribution to the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 16.

Mr. Green also informed that under the NIDS project, Fujitsu Caribbean (Jamaica) Limited has completed the construction and setup of the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) records digitisation and indexing facility and successfully digitised and indexed more than 2,300 civil records under a pilot programme.

“This project will digitise all the records at the RGD from 1930 to present. We have already employed 29 HOPE students and we are seeking to employ another 11 HOPE graduates,” he stated.

He added that the participants will become experts who can help other ministries, departments and agencies to digitise their records.

Meanwhile, the Government has also partnered with the Department of Correctional Services to provide close to 100 birth certificates for inmates at the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre.

In addition, to satisfy visually impaired customers, the RGD will be embarking on printing birth certificates in braille.

“This will be executed through a partnership with the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD), Jamaica Society for the Blind, and other relevant stakeholders. This will be a pioneering effort within the English-speaking Caribbean. It will ensure that those who are visually impaired and those who are blind feel included in what we do here in Jamaica,” he said.