The Jamaica Observer published an online article written by Alicia Dunkley-Willis on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, on the topic NIDS should not make lives a ‘living hell’, says JFJ.
The article focuses on the opinion of the Jamaicans for Justice about the new identification system (NIDS) that the Jamaican government plans to implement, and the challenges that it might impose on citizens that choose not to register for it.
Key points:
- THE lives of Jamaicans who opt out of registering for NIDS should not be made a ‘living hell’ according to Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ).
- The warning sent out by JFJ’s Executive Director Rodjé Malcolm, comes even as Prime Minister Andrew Holness said his Administration anticipates that NIDS will become law by December.
- The lack of a single, trusted form of identification (ID) in Jamaica that is usable across all activities has left the door wide open for several irregularities according to CAPRI.
- Malcolm who spoke during the launch of the CAPRI said while the Government can incentivize people to enrol, “the result should attract persons as opposed to pushing persons into using it.”
- Citizens should be encouraged and incentivized to enrol in the universal ID system when it becomes available to aid widespread adoption on this new system.
- A voluntary based system will not achieve the adoption that the country needs. But if it is made mandatory for government services and social programmes widespread adoption can be achieved.
- The think tank said the first phase of NIDS should see the issuing of the ID to beneficiaries of social welfare programmes.
- CAPRI stated that only fingerprints, a facial image, as well as the first and last names and the date of birth of individuals should be required for Jamaica.
Reference: jamaicaobserver.com
Contributed by Kyle Sterling from Jamaica. Kyle is a member of our Caribbean Cyber Support Team (CCST) initiative on Discord. CCST is a collaborative group on the Discord platform for Caribbean people interested in IT, from beginners to experts.
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