GECOM (Guyana Elections Commission) has approved the use of an optically variable ink (OVI) for the production of National Identification (ID) cards.
A statement said the outline of the Guyana map will appear on the front of each card, with additional security features not visible to the naked eye and not detectable without the use of appropriate technology.
GECOM said it gave the approval to De La Rue, the company which has been contracted to supply the teslin (base material), hardware, software and consumables associated with the production of the IDs for all persons registered during the 2008 house-to-house registration exercise.
The statement said GECOM considered that the OVI security feature is used on British passports, as well as on US$50 bills currently in circulation.
It added that the durability of the card is in excess of eight years.
According to GECOM, the decision to produce new national IDs for all persons registered during the 2008 registration is premised on the facts that:
* there are currently three differently designed ID cards in existence;
* counterfeit ID cards have been discovered by GECOM and the Guyana Police Force and
* the ID card of the oldest design, the red one, has been in existence for decades.
GECOM said it is of the belief that there must be in existence ID cards of only one design and with security features that cannot be duplicated.
The statement said, based on the timelines given by De La Rue, as per the contractual arrangements, ID cards production is likely to commence around late October and the distribution is slated to begin at the beginning of November, using approximately 272 centres over a two months period.
Thereafter, distribution will continue from GECOM’S permanent registration offices, which are strategically located in all Registration (Administrative) Regions of Guyana, the statement said.
GECOM said 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 registration, to facilitate the uplift of their ID cards.