By GEORGINA MICHAEL
The Papua New Guinea Civil and Identity Registry (PNGCIR) has received 120 biometric mobile registration kits and NID consumables worth of K4.6 million from Santos Limited in Port Moresby.
The donation ceremony as officiated by the Minister for Administrative Services, Richard Masare, Santos PNG Country Chair Leon Buskins, Registrar General Salome Bogosia, as well as officials of PNGCIR and Santos.
The mobile registrations kits are compact, lightweight and designed for ease of use in the field. Each unit is equipped with biometric scanners and cameras, capable of registering individuals into the Civil Registry Systems in less than five minutes.
The donation will significantly enhance access to National Identification document registration across the country, particularly in rural and remote project impact areas in Hela and Southern Highlands where Santos operates.
Ms Bogosia reflected on partnership between Santos and PNGCIR since 2024 and how the donation was a result of this strategic partnership.
“On behalf of the PNGCIR team, I am deeply appreciative of having a faith in us despite a lot of fluidity circulating on social media in the administration of the operations and the policies of the National Identity project.
“We really appreciate the entire Santos team and what you are giving to the young Papuan New Guineans who have been faithfully driving the national ID program in Papua New Guinea because of what we believe we can do in terms of transparency and accountability with our government system in the country,” Ms Bogosia said.
Minister Masare said: “On behalf of the Marape-Rosso Government, I would like to thank Santos for stepping up and assisting PNGCIR. With the limited funding that we have, Santos has come to support and delivered K4.6million worth of kits and consumables to help the NID project to achieve its objectives,” Mr Masere said.
“Beginning the end of this year and next year, PNGCIR and NID will work closely with the PNG Electoral Commission to make sure that all our people are registered in preparation for a transition from paper voting to biometric voting. NID will play a significant role in ensuring our electoral roll is ready for 2027 National General Elections.”
Mr Buskins said: “We have challenges facing our country and Santos wants to be part of the solution to address these challenges and so we are proud to be here and o be partners with PNGCIR achieve this mile stone together.
“We have had the opportunity to work with ID over the years and seeing the talent you have within so this will unlock and improve efficiency in the production of NID as data is so important for our country. We say in our industry ‘Data is the new oil or gold’ and this fits in well.”