Data sensitivity in e-ID project...
from only one source; and c) owing to a catastrophic event, there is an urgent need for the goods, services or construction, making it impractical to use other methods of procurement because of the time involved in using those methods.”
“The Act does not define `national security’ and therefore we have to apply the ordinary meaning of the words. National security is defined as ‘the safety of a nation against threats such as terrorism, war, or espionage.’ It is concerned about foreign relations and protection from internal subversion, foreign aggression to terrorism. It can hardly be argued that the production of electronic ID cards is a matter of national security,” he added.
‘Some point and time’
Guyana’s Attorney General maintains that the card would fall under national security given its features and the sensitive personal and other data that would be updated on it. He said that in other countries, similar mechanisms are used to procure passports and residency cards. “That is how it is done all over the world. You ever see a government advertise publicly to buy passports? You think the American Government goes on the public market to procure passports or green cards or whatever important documents of that country are, or any other country in the world? These are services that understandably are procured differently from the other ordinary type of services,” he said.
And where there has been a call that the issue be discussed in parliament, Nandlall said that that he believes that when the issue of the funding comes to the fore in the House, the issue will be ventilated.
The Alliance for Change and the Guyana Human Rights Association have called on government to pause the proposed programme and to submit it to Parliament.
AFC’s Parliamentarian Cathy Hughes had pointed out that the planned US$34 million project did not “come to the parliament for the requisite discussion and scrutiny. These omissions are all too glaring to be accidental and therefore we can only conclude this is the disdain with which this government holds its citizens which it is supposed to serve.”
In a statement, the GHRA said that the signing of a pac for e-governance “withou the framework legislatio covering Data Protectio being in place, is reckless i the extreme. Given the haste absence of public consulta tion and threats to the integri ty of personal information not to mention the seemin illegality of sole-sourcing th project, the Guyana Huma Rights Association … is call ing for the project to b paused and submitted t Parliament”.
Nandlall maintained tha government has complie with the laws of the countr and a time will come whe issues regarding the car could be heard in th National Assembly. “W have complied with th Procurement Act in respect t those types of services. Tha is why we are saying the alle gation is misplaced,” he said
“…Someone said w should take the contract t the parliament. The issue wil be discussed in the parlia ment at some point in tim because monies will have t come from the parliament t pay. So the matter will reac parliament. But I don’t know that the contract has to b taken to the Parliament. Th contract has to be laid in th parliament at some point i time,” he added.