Special PIN number to replace ID card and passports

A special Personal Identifi-cation Number (PIN) will in the future replace all other forms of numerical identification currently being used in TT including passports and identification cards. PIN numbers are already being included on new birth certificates. “The number will be issued from birth to every citizen and allow them easy access to government services,” said General Manager of the National In-surance Property Development Company (NIPDEC) Margaret Thompson yesterday as she addressed the launch of the Ministry of Legal Affairs Free Birth Certificate Programme at Crowne Plaza.

The PIN number will be issued through the Population Registry System (PRS) in the office of the Registrar General. Thompson said NIPDEC hoped to incorporate data from other areas — Immigration, Board of Inland Revenue, National Insurance Board and Elections and Boundaries Commission. The next step is the generation of PINs for the Immigration Department for citizens of TT who were not born here. The idea for the Population Registry System developed from the Health Sector Reform Program-me which proposed a PIN for citizens to access benefits from the National Health Insurance Scheme. Thompson said initial analysis found that basic information for the issuing of a PIN fell under the Civil Registry Division (CRD) of the Registrar General’s Office. Cabinet decided that a Population Registry System should be established utilising information from Civil Registry.  

NIPDEC was chosen as the consultant to implement and monitor the PRS, and Fijitsu-ICL was contracted in 1999 to supply and install software for the PRS. Minister of Legal Affairs Camille Robinson-Regis said the introduction of the free birth certificates programme is more than just a $25 relief. The Minister said it is a mechanism for stopping late registration and non-registration of births and assisted the most vulnerable in society. The registration of births for the period 1984-2003 is the first phase in the programme and emphasis is on children preparing for School Entrance Assessment in 2004.  Free birth certificates for the rest of the population will be available next year, and there are plans for marriage and death certificates to be issued electronically.

Robinson-Regis said computerisation of the CRD is expected to reduce the error rate by 90 percent compared with the manual system because the new system automatically checks and validates data during the electronic registration process. As TT prepares for participation in the Caribbean Single Market Economy by 2004, she said the PRS will facilitate easy travel between countries “through the use of electronically readable photo ID.” Robinson-Regis said this will be possible with the establishment of a reputable data base for easy access to TT’s National Security System.