Revised NIDS Bill To Be Considered By Cabinet Soon

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Cabinet will soon consider the revised National Identification System (NIDS) Bill, following which it will be brought to the House of Representatives.

Providing an update in the House of Representatives on April 28, Mr. Holness said the NIDS policy document was now before the Chief Parliamentary Counsel (CPC).

“The NIDS policy has been approved, the consultations were done and the policy is now with the CPC and a draft Bill is being prepared that will come to Cabinet, approved at the Legislation Committee and then finally will come to Parliament,” he noted.

“We are putting this on a fast track because we see how very important it is to have identification as a means of being able to give support, protection and to help with order in the society,” Mr. Holness added.

The NIDS is intended to provide a comprehensive and secure structure to capture and store information on the identity of all Jamaicans.

Under the system, each citizen will be provided with a randomised nine-digit National Identification Number (NIN), which they will have for life.

In the meantime, he urged Jamaicans, where possible, to utilise online services to minimise crowding in establishments.

“There is a cultural shift that needs to take place and we need to use this crisis to appeal to our people to use the digital platforms,” the Prime Minister said.

“Many of them are not able to use digital interface, they may not be able to use the apps and the websites and some of them don’t have computers to access, but when you look at the statistics showing Internet access and penetration, it is growing, but it all depends on how we, as lawmakers, signal the importance of what it means to have a digital society,” he added.