OPM Live Youth Edition
By: , November 30, 2017The Key Point:
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (second right), responds to questions during Wednesday’s (November 29) ‘OPM-Live’ mini town hall meeting at Jamaica College in St. Andrew. The meeting was organised by the Office of the Prime Minister. Others (from left) are Government senator Matthew Samuda; Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith; and State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green.The Facts
- “The Regulations that will further define how the NIDS will actually work… are still to come. I encourage all Jamaicans to ensure that you are satisfied with the details of the regulations, (and) ask for the support of everyone who wants to see the best for Jamaica,” he said.
- Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister and Leader of Government Business in the Upper House, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, advised persons attending the meeting that the legislation provides for a pilot to be undertaken to determine how the initiative will be rolled out, and, thereafter, for the Bill to be reviewed within an 18-month period.
The Full Story
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has assured that the Government will be hosting public consultations in the form of town hall meetings, to provide further clarification on the National Identification System (NIDS).
The first meeting is slated for Tuesday, December 5 at Emancipation Park in Kingston, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Mr. Holness, who was speaking at an OPM-Live mini town hall meeting at Jamaica College in St. Andrew on Wednesday (November 29), advised that while the supporting NIDS Bill has been passed by both Houses of Parliament, it has one more stage of deliberations before its implementation.
“The Regulations that will further define how the NIDS will actually work… are still to come. I encourage all Jamaicans to ensure that you are satisfied with the details of the regulations, (and) ask for the support of everyone who wants to see the best for Jamaica,” he said.
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister and Leader of Government Business in the Upper House, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, advised persons attending the meeting that the legislation provides for a pilot to be undertaken to determine how the initiative will be rolled out, and, thereafter, for the Bill to be reviewed within an 18-month period.
Senator Johnson Smith said based on the project plan, full roll-out “is more likely to be in three or four years”.
“So, the anxiety and the concerns that are being raised legitimately, we hear them, we are taking them on board, and we want you to raise the issues, so that we can address them,” the Minister told the audience.
Meanwhile, Chief Technical Director in the Office of the Prime Minister, Jacqueline Lyn Stewart, advised that the NIDS public education has started and will be ramped up in 2018.
She also noted that additional training is being provided for members of the project team to enable them to provide in-depth information about the NIDS to stakeholders who are engaged at the community level.
Mrs. Lyn Stewart also encouraged persons to familiarise themselves with details of the NIDS at: www.nidsfacts.com.