The government is not about depriving citizens of their rights but it must be placed in a position to enforce existing law.
That’s the word this afternoon from Prime Minister Andrew Holness to people who are sceptical about the impending introduction of a National Identification System, NIDS.
Mr. Holness says as a legislator he has to listen to concerns, complaints, as well as, the fears of Jamaicans.
He says while he has a duty to listen to the uncertainties of Jamaicans regarding the rollout of the national identification system, he’s also duty bound to listen to the other segments of the population concerned about indiscipline and crime in the society.
The Prime Minister says there needs to be consensus on what the society wants.
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For the Prime Minister, the ‘fear mongering’ about the NIDS has been unreasonable.
He says certain groups must not derail the interests of many Jamaicans; whom he says are now suffering due to the inability of the State to enforce the law.
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Members of the technical team developing the national identification system have said the measure is not designed to be a crime-fighting tool.
However, the Prime Minister made the case for the NIDS in the context of the need to empower the State to ensure good order in the society when it’s able to identify its citizens.
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Mr. Holness was speaking at the launch of the JN road safety hub geared at providing real-time road crash and network data by the Mona Geo-informatics Institute.
Pointing to the take up during the recent traffic ticket amnesty, Mr. Holness says this is an indication of a low compliance rate by motorists. He says this was due in part to the inability of the state to enforce the law.
Mr. Holness says one of the variables at play was that the State cannot identify its citizens as tickets are sometimes issued to drivers with fake licenses. He says the NIDS is integral to realizing a digital economy.
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