Hassle-free travel, ease of doing business possible with new digitalised National ID Card – VP

– e-visa portal, e-boarding gates for airport

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has revealed that the Guyana Government is working with its United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterparts for the implementation of a new National Identification (ID) card that will not only see Guyanese benefiting from hassle-free travel at the local airports but also improve the ease of doing business in the country.
During a press conference on Friday, Jagdeo disclosed that these discussions were initiated during his recent visit to Abu Dhabi last month. He said Guyana agreed to a contract with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), which will help the country to develop this new National ID card that will have a micro-chip containing information of its holder.
“It would be for nationals and people who are residents in Guyana. So, if you’re coming to work here, you will have a different colour card [and] Guyanese will have a one-colour card. The chip can store a lot of the bio-metric data, maybe blood type, drivers’ licence, GRA [Guyana Revenue Authority data such as] your TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) number, etc. That could be used then for a whole range of purposes but is a secure document.”
“If you’re a foreigner; you’re coming to work here and you have a work permit for three years, you will have one of these cards – different colour – but that will allow you to go to the GRA, establish a TIN or the bank. The moment that expires, your three-year work permit, then things start shutting down. So, you have to go and renew [your ID card] so we can see who’s here in our country too,” the Vice President explained.
According to Jagdeo, this will be a separate card from the ID card issued by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). However, the plan is to eventually incorporate all the GECOM IDs into this new card sometime in the future.
Legislations for the introduction and implementation of this new National ID Card are expected to be laid in the National Assembly during the course of next year.
This project is expected to be executed by a state-owned Abu Dhabi-based company, Group 42, in association with a part-Government-owned German company. The Vice President said G42 has a lot of experience in the production of these types of documents.
“This would also help to strengthen our security modules, the private sector banking – a whole range of things. So, that’s what we’re working with them on because they have a lot of experience there,” he added.
Moreover, VP Jagdeo noted that this new ID card will also benefit Guyanese in terms of providing a hassle-free travelling experience for them at the local airports.
“When Guyanese travel and stuff, we’re hoping that maybe eventually, without having to even go to e-passport, when they come home, they can just take out their card and just swipe, and come in. They don’t have to go through this elaborate immigration [process]… making it easier for all of that,” he noted.
The Vice President said that the next phase of this initiative would be the introduction of e-passports for Guyanese, who would then be able to travel around the world with ease. In fact, he posited that this could even open up more visa-free access to some countries that require secured documents.
Additionally, Jagdeo also revealed that the Guyana Government is also in discussions with Abu Dhabi Exports – an arm of ADFD – to fund another project that will see Guyana’s airports moving fully to an e-visa portal with e-boarding gates as well – a project which Cabinet has already approved.
“So, in the future, hopefully, within about eight months or a year, it would almost seem paperless coming in through our airports but with a lot of security features – the software, the cameras that can do retinal scan and stuff like that, fingerprints. So, they’re working with us on a project to do that,” he stated.
The Vice President noted that Abu Dhabi Exports is expected to fund about 90 per cent of the cost for this project while Government will put up the financing for the other 10 per cent.
In addition, as part of this initiative, Guyana will also send its immigration and customs officers to the UAE for training to properly man these new high-technology cards when they are implemented here.