Holness Installs Nine-Member Board to Lead National Identification and Registration Authority

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness has installed a nine-member board to steer the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), meeting the appointees at Jamaica House on March 15 and instructing them to keep the agency running efficiently.

Addressing the new directors, Mr. Holness underscored that their core duty is enforcement of the governing legislation. “Your job… would be to ensure that the system works. So, there is a well-thought-out Act and a set of Regulations and your job is to police that to make sure that what is in the law is what the agency does,” he said.

NIRA is being stood up to take over administration of Jamaica’s civil registration system from the Registrar General’s Department (RGD), with a mandate to deliver an expanded slate of services. The new authority will also manage the phased introduction of the National Identification System (NIDS) and craft the operating protocols around it, covering enrolment of eligible residents, the assignment of a National Identification Number (NIN) and the issuance of a National Identification Card.

The Prime Minister told the board it should exercise sound judgment in areas where the National Identification and Registration Act offers no explicit guidance, always ruling in favour of the public interest. “It is those finer details that you have to pay attention to, and any decisions have to be made, you must make those according to the spirit of the Act, which is captured in the objects and reasons,” he pointed out.

He pressed the directors to keep close watch on management and to set measurable goals despite NIRA being a non-commercial body. “As a Board you have to constantly interrogate the management and keep the management on task. You don’t necessarily have a profit motive, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t have your key performance indicators and ensure that they are executed,” he said.

Mr. Holness also warned the board against complacency, cautioning that “institutions fail when they fail to plan for the future, and to incorporate new technologies and practices that are emerging, which could impact your organisation”. He added, “So, you have to be constantly scouting [looking at] the new trends, what’s new in technology, so that we can start to plan and make changes internally.”

Board Chairman the Hon. Bishop Conrad Pitkin pledged dedicated effort, saying he is committed to working assiduously to ensure “that we meet our targets and objectives”.

Joining Bishop Pitkin on the board are attorney-at-law Georgia Hamilton; Rev. Newton Dixon, representing the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches; Kenrick Steele; Alok Jain; Maria Thompson Walters; Shereika Hemmings Allison; Emil Holgate; and Gordon Christopher Reckord.

NIDS, which falls under the Office of the Prime Minister, is designed as a secure framework for gathering and storing identity data. The opt-in platform will additionally enable electronic signing of documents and give Jamaicans secure online access to a wide range of government services.