US$35 million electronic ID card system delayed because of technical glitch

Last Updated on Friday, 27 June 2025, 2:28 by Writer

The Guyana government has been unable to provide any of the promised electronic identification cards more than two years after the US$35.4 million contract was signed because the company has so far been unable to integrate two platforms, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said Thursday.

He told a news conference that the reason was because the Germany-headquartered Veridos Identity Solutions had been unable to integrate the e-ID card system with the passport database. “A lot of focus has been on integration and so that’s the hardest thing to do, the integration to make sure that we can work separately but the platforms can talk to each other and share information. Once you get that right, the rollout of the card is easy,” he said.

Mr Jagdeo said the new embedded chip-based e-ID card system, which was expected to be completed last year, was now expected to be rolled out within the next 12 months.

Mr Jagdeo said when the card comes on stream it will be integrated with the Smart Country surveillance cameras, allowing authorities to know the whereabout of foreigners who are in Guyana. As such, he said signing up and acquiring the cards would be mandatory for foreigners here. “At any given moment we will know about all the people, who are in our country, who are not Guyanese wherever they are from and we will have their biometrics,” he said.

He also said people would be unable to open bank accounts without that ID card and employers would have to ensure their staff have that form of identification.

The Digital Identity Card Bill of 2023, which has already been approved by the National Assembly, requires applicants to provide their birth certificate, date and place of birth, photo or facial image satisfying the requirements for a photograph, unique identification number, sex, citizenship, fingerprints, and signature.