Public education on NIDS will continue, says Morgan

Director of communications in the Office of the Prime Minister, Robert Nesta Morgan, has made it clear that the public-education exercise on the National Identification and Registration Act, which makes provisions for a National Identification System (NIDS), will continue, even as the country awaits a major court ruling on a challenge in relation to the constitutionality of aspects of the NIDS.

He indicated, however, that the public-education drive would not highlight aspects of the law that have been challenged by the Opposition in the Supreme Court.

"The [NIDS] pilot will go forward, but it will also depend on what the judgement of the courts are as it relates to what NIDS look like in fullness in the future," Morgan told The Gleaner yesterday.

On Thursday, The Gleaner reported that the roll-out of the NIDS pilot project, which had been scheduled for this month, has been pushed back to mid-2019.

"When the judgement is arrived at, policymakers will have to sit down and consider whatever the outcome is of the court case and make a decision as to the way forward in relation to aspects of NIDS that are currently in question," Morgan asserted.

He stressed that the whole law was not in question but that clauses in the legislation had been challenged.

"We cannot presuppose whether the ruling will be positive or negative. What we can say is that as a government, which respects the judicial system and respects the interpretation of laws laid down by the judges, an assessment will have to be made of the judgement, and when that assessment is made by the policymakers, then they will make a decision as to the way forward."