About 50 percent of National Identification cards printed are awaiting collection at the respective Civil and Identity Registries, Minister for Planning Charles Abel has revealed.
Speaking at the launch of the PNG NID Help Desk and NID card collection notification service on Friday (Feb 12), Abel said it is a concern for his department on how best they can inform people that their card are ready for collection.
He said by introducing the PNG NID Card Collection Notification service, they are improving their efficiency level as this is part of their service improvement strategy, as service providers to ensure that every citizen has their NID Cards in a reliable and timely manner.
“The features of the PNG NID Card Collection Notification Service is a SMS notification that includes; PNG NID Banner (instead of a telephone number), the client’s full name, NID number and the location of the card collection point.
“This serves as the clients receipt and has to be presented at the card collection point.”
Abel added that this is the first of its kind that a government department is providing a public interaction phase to their services and the Department of National Planning and Monitoring in partnership with the PNG Civil and Identity Registry under the leadership of the Ministry of National Planning and Monitoring are proud to pioneer this service to the people of Papua New Guinea.
“By this we reaffirm our commitment to improve the efficiency of our registration services as to serve our citizens better,” he said.
The Department of National Planning and Monitoring and the Papua New Guinea Civil and Identity Registry, through the Papua New Guinea National Identity project has also launched the PNG NID Help Desk last Friday.
Abel said: “We are well aware of the level of our client service, particularly the waiting period for people who have registered and we include in this group the working class who may not have the time to go to our Civil and Identity Registry. In view of this issue we are pleased to inform that this will be addressed through the Help Desk as our one stop information centre.”
He said the PNG NID Help Desk is part of their strategy to improve the quality of client services which is being facilitated by the PNG NID Project Management Unit in supporting the PNG Civil and Identity Registry.
The PNG NID Help Desk is absolutely necessary following complaints and poor client service thus it was created to deal with these public complaints and misconceptions, but at the same time improve the efficiency of dealing with client queries relating to their registration, and card issuance. One of the areas is to help reduce possible fraudulent activities such as collection of fees from unsuspecting clients.
“We appeal to the general public to use this Help Desk as a way forward on improving client relationships and client services. This is a significant milestone, in our service delivery.”