–GECOM

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has reported that the company contracted to supply material for the production of national identification cards has been given its approval and in a statement yesterday the commission said it has approved the use of an “Optically Variable Ink” (OVI) for the production of the cards.

The outline of the map of Guyana will appear on the front of the card and it will also have additional security features that would not be visible to the naked eye or detectable without the use of appropriate technology.

The commission’s statement said De La Rue was contracted to supply the base material, hardware, software and consumables associated with the production process. The cards will have a lifespan in excess of eight years.

GECOM said it has decided to go the route of producing new cards for those registered in the house-to-house registration exercise due to the fact that counterfeit cards have been discovered by it and the police force. Additionally three differently designed cards are in existence  and the red card which is of the oldest design has been around for decades.

Based on the timelines given by De La Rue as per the contractual arrangements, ID card production is likely to commence around late October, 2009.

The distribution of ID cards is slated to commence at the beginning of November using approximately 272 distribution centres over a two-month period.  Thereafter, distribution will continue from GECOM’s permanent Registration Offices which are strategically located in all of the Administrative Regions in Guyana.

Registrants are advised to ensure that they are in possession of the “pink slips”, which were given to them at the time of their respective registrations, to facilitate the uplifting of their ID cards during the upcoming ID card distribution exercise.