US$ 68m for NIDS

THE TOTAL budget for the implementation of the National Identification System (NIDS) is US$68 million, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has revealed.

Approximately 20 per cent of this, Holness noted, is for the national identification solution.

“That means the software required to deliver identity management services,” he explained in the House of Representatives yesterday.

In addition, the prime minister revealed that US$2.4 million, or US$480,000 per annum for five years, has been budgeted to finance the NIDS public relations, communications and behaviour-change strategy.

Already, he said from June to December last year, a total of US$42,614 has been spent for radio, television and print advertising for the project, a section of which is the subject of a court challenge by the parliamentary Opposition.

“It speaks to the level of efficiency and frugality,” Holness said of the disbursements made so far.

He said he has given clear directives on how the budget should be used, “because I know this programme is being scrutinised for any little fault to be critical of.

“The team knows and understands that US$68 million is not something to joke around with. Every single dollar of expenditure must meet the highest standard of accountability and probity,” he insisted.

The prime minister, who was responding to questions from Opposition Spokesman on Technology Julian Robinson, said the bulk of the funds will be utilised for the broader modernisation and digitisation of Government and improving the Government’s ICT infrastructure.

“In other words, it’s one thing to give everyone a national ID that allows digital manoeuvrability, but you also have to prepare the national system to utilise the ID,” he reasoned.

NIDS is being funded through a loan agreement between the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank.