By GABRIEL KATUHO
Newly appointed Registrar for the Civil and Identity Registry (CIR), Mr. Leslie Simon, says 42, 000 National Identity (NID) cards have been printed in the past month as part of efforts to strengthen the program nationwide.
The NID program has long struggled with delays, leaving many Papua New Guineans without cards required to access to basic services. Printing had stalled for months due to technical breakdowns and funding shortages. Against this backdrop, the Registrar says the recent output of 42,000 cards marks a restart of the program. (Have added, to give a bit of background into the data – 42,000)
Speaking in an interview (more formal way), Mr. Simon outlined plans to improve the NID program and highlighted several challenges that hindered progress over the years.
“We have started to move in the new direction to ensure the supporting maintenance is brought back online. We got the new parts from end of May and until now, we printed 42 000, NID cards already.
“In the next 100 days, we plan to print 300 000 NID cards. So, we are going to go on a major issuance program,” he said.
He explained that printing had stalled last month due to delays in importing parts from overseas, as well as funding constraints.
“Other areas in contracts that were not addressed by previous managements made it very difficult for us to resolve issues,” he added.
With government directives to transition into electronic identification (E NID), Mr. Simon said CIR is extending its hand to collaborate with other agencies to drive reforms and transform the organization.
“DICT has to come in, audit our systems, and work with us. We are also looking at working with the Electoral Commission and Telikom,” he said. “We will also be collaborating with external partners as well. UNICEF and Santos are already engaging with us, and there are talks to involve other international partners because the technology challenge is steep.”
As part of reforms, CIR has also moved from operating as a self accounting organization into the government’s Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) to ensure stronger financial control.