Expiring ID cards valid till December

The validity of all national identification (ID) cards expiring this year has been extended to assist people trying to access social welfare services and grants.

Newsday went to the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) office at Scott House, Frederick Street, Port of Spain on Monday and spoke to corporate communications manager Bobbi Rogers, who confirmed the renewal of identification cards will resume from December and explained the decision behind extending the validity of existing cards.

"For now we will only be facilitating registrants who have to collect ID cards, report missing or destroyed ID cards and change their addresses and names.

"The commission was aware that many persons needed to use their ID cards to either conduct business and apply for social services grants during this period, and due to closure of our offices to the public, the decision was made to extend the validity of these ID cards to December 31, as previously stated."

She said the officehad remained open for administrative business only during the stay-at-home period, "meaning they were closed to the public, but today is the first time we opened our doors to the public."

Rogers said the extension of the validity of ID cards would not effect the eligibility of voters, as members of the public needed to be registered in order to vote.

She also said the EBC did not have to take on any additional workers to accomodate the crowd, as staff and managers had anticipated a large turnout.

A media release issued by the EBC on May 31 said, the holders of expired ID cards do not have to visit the EBC's office or take any additional action.

The extension was instituted in accordance with Registration Rules 31 (5) and (6) of the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 2:01.

Several people lined up on the pavement outside the EBC's Port of Spain office on Monday, as it opened for the first time in almost three months since stay-at-home regulations were mandated.

The office, which opened at 8 am, allowed only five registrants in at a time, They were required to wear face masks and sanitise their hands on entry.

One registrant, Curtis Pacheco, said he came to collect his card and while he did not expect so many people to be in line, he was pleased with how fast the line was moving.

"I've been standing here for about five minutes,so I can't really complain. I knew there would have been a bit of a backlog since the offices closed in March, but I didn't expect this much people to be coming out today."

A woman said she came to apply for an ID card after the original was lost and said despite the lengrthy line she was pleased with how fast registrants were being processed.