Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter titled ‘What will the new ID card have that will make it superior to the existing ID card?’ (Guyana Times April 5) in the name of Clement Bacchus. Firstly, Mr. Bacchus, by his own admission, welcomes the opportunity to get a new ID card, since the one he is currently in possession of is old and worn out and always causes a stir whenever he presents it for a transaction. Thereafter, he asks the following questions:-
1. What can I use this new ID card for? I have had some difficulties before with the current ID card. This included non-acceptance by GECOM itself when it was doing its house-to- house registration last year.
2. What will the new ID card have that is different from the current ID card that will make it so unique?
3. Will the information contained on it be the same as the current ID card or will it be different? I hope that it’s different, because if it turns out that the only difference between the old ID card and the new ID card is the colour and design, then GECOM must be jesting. Colour and design do not determine a person’s identification; pictures and personal information do.
4. When the new card comes out, I will be looking for any difference and if there is found to be none, then I need an explanation as to why the current ID card was refused before.
In response we wish to inform Mr Bacchus that a National Identification Card is required for the following: applying for a driver’s licence; a passport; a loan; a police clearance certificate; and a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). It is also needed for carrying out bank transactions; post office transactions and hire purchase transactions; as well as those associated with the National Insurance Scheme and old age pensions. It is also necessary for identifying the holder for the purpose of voting at elections.
The decision not to accept existing national identification (ID) cards as source documents in the 2008 house-to-house registration exercise was taken as a matter of policy. This decision took into consideration that, during previous (pre-2001) registration exercises, some persons had been registered on the basis of having provided baptismal certificates, letters from priests, elders, headmasters, village captains/Toshaos and justices of the peace, thus becoming registered in the National Register of Registrants (NRR) and being issued with ID cards. This methodology had resulted in concerns raised, not least by political parties, about the accuracy of the database used for the commencement of continuous registration in 2005.
In cognizance of the concerns raised about the purity of the database used for the production of the 2006 Official List of Electors, and recognizing the need to guarantee the integrity of the new database being created from the 2008 house-to-house registration exercise, GECOM in its collective wisdom took the decision not to accept existing ID cards, among other specified documentation, as base documents for registration. This sought to ensure that only persons who met the established criteria would become registered in the new NRR and give unquestionable credibility to any voters’ list to be produced therefrom. This policy found no dissatisfaction on the part of any stakeholder.
The new ID card will carry new security features which will not be visible to the naked eye. Currently, ID cards exist with three different designs, ie the old red one, the green one with black and white photographs, and the green one with coloured photographs. The intention is to issue new ID cards of a standard design to every registrant and thereafter to decommission the existing ones.
The information on the card will be based on the registration record of the registrant as taken from the source document presented to GECOM for the purpose of registration. The information on the new ID card will also be different from that on the existing card, if the registrant changed his/her name by marriage or deed poll.
Mr Bacchus acknowledges that pictures identify a person. He should also recognize that people’s facial features change with age. This in itself brings out the need for a registrant to renew his/her photo ID. By the time Gecom issues new ID cards with current photographs, nine years would have elapsed since the registration exercise which was conducted in preparation for the 2001 elections, bringing into being the green one with the black and white photographs. Physiognomy would have changed appreciably over those years.
The green ID cards with black and white photographs were issued prior to the 2001 elections. Mr Bacchus’s non-inclusion in the 2001 database means that he is not in possession of a green ID card with a black and white photograph. If the ID card that Mr Bacchus currently holds is of the old red design, which would have been produced about twelve years ago at least, he more than anyone should be happy to get a new ID card containing important security elements and a genuine reflection of his current facial features.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Persaud
Public Relations Officer
GECOM
