The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) has sealed a five-year contract to print smart civil ID cards with electronic chips for Kuwaitis to replace the current civil ID cards with smart cards, PACI Director-General Musaed Al-Asousi announced Tuesday. Al-Asousi made the announcement at a press conference Tuesday. He said the smart card contains huge data to serve several purposes. He explained the card will serve as civil ID internally, while it will be used as a travel document within the GCC countries. He revealed the GCC nations have been installing electronic gadgets for this purpose at the points of entry. He stated the card will ease transactions at public and private offices as it is useful in keeping medical records in coordination with the Ministry of Health, supply of foodstuffs in collaboration with the Commerce Ministry, electronic signature in cooperation with the Information Technology Center, and electronic wallet by liaising with the Banking Services Company, among many other services. He added citizens will enjoy services through the high-quality specifications of the card and latest technology that defies falsification. "The card is made of plastic with electronic chip and all lapses discovered in the current card have been rectified," he assured.
Al-Asousi affirmed the card passed through 14 phases of design, pointing out Kuwait has complied with 97 percent criteria for ideal shape and security of cards, compared to only 70-80 percent in other GCC nations. He said PACI considered international standard while designing shape, size and cover, such that an ordinary person cannot identify the specifications. He disclosed the authority has approved gradual exchange of the old ID cards to the smart ones until the entire citizens change their cards. He affirmed the gradual procedure will not affect transactions of citizens or cause them embarrassment of any form, while the PACI headquarters will not be overcrowded for card collection. He declared the authority will embark on replacement after expiration of the current cards, while new-born babies and those whose data like address are changed will be entitled to the latest card. He stressed the electronic chip will contain all data written on the plastic card, such as the e-mail, phone numbers, embedded fingerprint and data for movement within the GCC states. He continued to say the card is well protected from destruction due to exposure to sunlight, heat or bending, adding the card will be valid for a maximum of five years. He urged citizens to promptly inform the authority in case of loss or theft, in order to cancel the validity. He warned using a card that had been earlier declared lost is illegal and the authority will take legal actions against anyone violating this directive to serve as deterrent to others. "Citizens can contact the authority for immediate collection of cards through phone number 1889988 or by logging on to our website http://www.paci.gov.kw," he said.
Al-Asousi added the Council of Ministers has instructed PACI to complete issuance of the smart cards to Kuwaitis before embarking on a similar procedure for expatriates after three years. He clarified the annual renewal of residency for expatriates could be a hindrance to smooth carrying out of this procedure due to the high population of expatriates. "Kuwaitis who reached five years and above should submit two 6 x 4 passport photographs each when applying for issuance of the smart cards. Anybody who wishes to ensure that his Latin names correspond to data on the traveling passport should submit a copy of the data page of his passport," he concluded.
© Arab Times 2009
