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30,000 persons still to register for ID cards

Oct 23, 2009 News

As the date for Local Government Elections looms closer, an estimated 30,000 persons have not been registered for ID cards because they did not have source documents.
This is according to Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr Steve Surujbally, yesterday in response to questions on the progress of work leading up to the Local Government Elections. The Commission is hoping that elections, which have been pushed back by six months again, will be held by March 29, 2010.
The official yesterday urged that unregistered persons get their birth certificates or passports and use the Claims and Objections period leading up to the elections to have one last opportunity to be registered.
GECOM is planning to start distributing the identification cards by November 9. According to Dr Surujbally, with a new policy in place that disallows Justice of Peace and Toshaos, among others, from vouching for persons without birth certificates and passports, the onus is now on applicants to ensure they apply for these documents since when the time for claims and objections would have passed, no cards would be issued.
Meanwhile, Registration Officers (RO) across the country also met yesterday to discuss their roles.
According to a statement from GECOM, the two-day key meetings started yesterday at the Umana Yana, Kingston, Registration officers from all of the 23 GECOM Registration Offices across Guyana were present
They were brought “up to date with the preparations for the conduct of Local Government Elections, and to emphasize the nature of their associated roles and responsibilities,” GECOM explained.
The meeting is also to provide adequate guidance and to obtain feedback pertaining to the role of ROs in the preparations for the conduct of elections.
The GECOM officers will also be deliberating on and bringing “administrative closure to all issues connected with demarcation of boundaries for the constituencies within the respective Local Government Areas.”
Regarding the issue of the new security-featured ID cards, distribution of which will start early next month, GECOM yesterday said that this distribution will also feature high in the discussions along with the strategies on the conduct of the Local Government Elections.
According, Dr. Surujbally, the need for all ID distribution staff, and the ROs in particular, to observe due diligence during the execution of their responsibilities is a key aspect of the process.
Pointing out that the satisfactory completion of the ID distribution exercise rested heavily with the ID distribution staff as frontline staff of the Commission, the Chairman emphasized that it is extremely important that they do not conduct themselves in any manner that could bring disrepute to the Commission.
He urged that as an important precursor to the conduct the of Claims and Objections exercise for Local Government Elections as well as for the holding of these elections, the overall success of the ID distribution exercise must never be compromised.
Also at the training were Gocool Boodoo, Chief Election Officer; Calvin Benn, Deputy Chief Election Officer; Keith Lowenfield, Assistant Chief Election Officer, and Deolall Ramlall, Civic and Voter Education Manager.

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