NID Project

Under the partnership the Civil & Identity Registry will establish a District NID Office and train locals to implement the roll out.

The partnership was signed by Deputy Prime Minister and Esa’ala MP, Davies Steven, and Civil & Identity Registrar, Noel Mobiha, on Friday May 1st.

Esa’ala District is the 24^th District to partner the Civil & Identity Registry roll out the NID Program in the District.

The anti-corruption NGO said this in response to media reports that National Planning Minister, Richard Maru, was disappointed that the K230 million NID registration system was not working.

“TIPNG shares the Minister’s concern and has been calling for explanations of the loss or possible misuse of at least K24m and efforts to hold those responsible accountable,” said the anti-rot agency.

This follows the suspension of former head of NSO, Roko Koloma, and the establishment of an investigation team into the NID project.

“In welcoming these positive steps taken by the Minister, TIPNG strongly feels that there is still much to be concerned about in terms of public interest and accountability of public funds apparently splurged on this project,” stated the anti-rot agency.

Grand Chief Sir Bob Bofeng Dadae said the PNG NID project, currently underway for all public servants to register, will enable the National Government to determine the exact population of the country and plan infrastructure development accordingly.

“There are benefits to registering in that it enables citizens to access government services and most importantly, to have a national identity as a Papua New Guinean citizen,” stated the GG.

Speaking to Loop PNG, Abel said the only issue was getting registrations going as people were slowly coming forward to register.

Abel said the physical network has already rolled out with the building of the NID House, the establishment of IT networks in place, and the opening of fixed provincial offices.

“It’s absolutely not a failed project,” said Abel.