[ad_1]
(CNS): Following the passage of the Identification Register Bill, 2022 in parliament in December, Cabinet has now approved the commencement order for the law and paved the way for the drafting instructions for the development of regulations for both it and the co-legislation, the Cayman Islands Identification Card Act, 2022. The National ID is still relatively controversial, though the mandatory element of the law was dropped following the public backlash.
The news that the Cayman Islands Government will be moving ahead now to compile the register, which it believes will take several months, was revealed in the summary of the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, 23 May.
During the debate about the law before Christmas, Minister André Ebanks said it would take several months to create the register, giving the CIG time to raise awareness about the act and the purpose of the identity system. But since the law passed, there has been little promotion of the scheme, and no invitation has been issued yet to allow people to sign up.
When it is rolled out, the national identity card will be accessible to everyone as it will be free in the first instance. Among its benefits, it will offer all Caymanians a way of proving who they are without the need for a case full of documents outlining their family history and other personal details. Officials have also said it will make doing business with the government easier, offer access to a verified electronic signature and put Cayman on the road to a more fully digitalised economy.
During the same Cabinet meeting, the ministers also shuffled budget allocations around, increasing the equity appropriation for Miscellaneous Road Surface Upgrades by $2,500,000, which was taken from funds set aside for the telecoms submarine cable. While the CIG still seems keen on investing in this project, it appears that things are moving more slowly than planned.
According to the government’s procurement website, the planning ministry is still looking for a project management and advisory consultant to oversee the proposed plan, with the bidding process due to close at the end of this month.
The summary note also revealed that the final report from the 2022 Minimum Wage Advisory Committee has been extended to September. The members held their first meeting in January and were scheduled to finish by the end of this month.
It is almost seven years since a national minimum wage of CI$6 per hour was introduced in the Cayman Islands, when inflation was running at -2.8%. However, that basic rate has not been increased since then, despite the runaway inflation over recent years.
[ad_2]
Source link