By Jenique Belgrave
Barbadians can use their old identification cards for a while longer – until the end of January next year – with a third extension to the deadline for acquiring their new Trident ID cards.
Senior citizens will also have that extra time to get their new ID cards pinned to ride on Transport Board buses for free.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley made the announcements on Tuesday as she urged residents who have not made the switch to the Trident IDs to do so and pin their new cards, noting that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) could be the next state agency to utilise the pin and chip technology.
“There are some people who want to pin and there are some people who do not want to pin, so we give people the option but we also give them a range of services. It just so happens that the Transport Board is the first service that is rolling out. I fully anticipate that the National Insurance Scheme will be one of the next ones that will have to roll out in the next few months so that payments can be made to pensioners without people having to rely on cheques,” Mottley said at a press conference in the Ermie Bourne Committee Room of Parliament.
Making a case for pinning the ID cards, she added: “It also protects a lot of the pensioners because we have had too many reports of persons abusing the cheques. You still have to be alert, but at least the card validates the person to whom the card is issued and the pin provides that further validation.”
The deadline for use of the old Barbados ID cards has moved from October 31, 2023, to January 31, 2024. It is the third time the deadline has been extended since the roll-out of the new Trident ID cards last year.
Flanked by executive members of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP), Mottley said the decision had come out of a meeting with that group which expressed concerns about the elderly being able to meet that deadline as well as getting their new cards pinned to be able to access free rides on the Transport Board buses.
Last week, the Transport Board announced the launch of its cashless system on October 1, which will allow Barbadians 65 years and over to tap their Trident IDs on card readers on any bus operated by the state-run agency to ride free of charge.
To use the tap-and-go system, seniors would have to pin their IDs, and the announcement of the requirement triggered public debate, given that pinning the cards was said to be optional.
“With respect to persons’ movement on the Transport Board, we have also agreed that persons will be allowed to use both their digital card as well as the old card for the period of time of the validity of the old card, which is effective until January 31st,” the Prime Minister said.
“Having said that, you will be aware from the press release that went out last week that we also have provided for the persons in the country to benefit from being able to pin their cards at each of the four bus terminals as well as the 14 post offices. Arrangements were put in place for them to pin their cards at the bus terminals between now and October, and there is no need for a hard stop date until we get the majority of persons pinned, and that will not be restricted to elderly persons, but open to all from Monday to Saturday,” she added.
Mottley pointed out that for senior citizens who were unable to go to pinning stations, arrangements could be made to have it done at their homes.
Explaining the importance of the use of pinned cards, she said that accurate billing would become crucial as the Transport Board transitions to a cashless system that includes private operators in the Transportation Augmentation Programme (TAP).
This was also important, she said, in the move towards a Mass Transit Authority where the Government is more a regulator than an operator. Within this hybrid system where free passage was still provided for pensioners, students, police officers and disabled persons, the Prime Minister said a mechanism was needed where persons did not “doubt the numbers”.
“Part of the difficulty the Minister of Finance and the Transport Board had initially is that the numbers which have been submitted do not necessarily reflect the reality of Barbados’ existence in the last few years. So our disabled passengers moved from… 5 489 in 2020 to 4 743 in 2021 and then in 2022 going back up to 8 547, but for pensioners, the numbers went the opposite way,” she said, noting that ridership for this group increased significantly each year between 2019 and 2022, even with the restrictions due to COVID-19 – from 1.37 million in 2019 to 2.2 million in 2022.
“It is difficult for the officers who advise us to accept that the numbers increased at the very time that you placed restrictions on movement to the whole country. But even before the whole country, who were we asking to stay home? It was the pensioners, and then when you add to that the Transport Board and PSVs (public service vehicles) could only carry 50 per cent because of COVID, these numbers defy rational understanding,” Mottley added.
She said the new system would therefore be a “win-win” for everyone.
Admitting that the communication around the card could have been “stronger and clearer” with respect to the arrangements that will take place, the PM said BARP, the Electoral and Boundaries Commission and the Transport Board would work together to ensure the public was properly informed.
Prime Minister Mottley said that more than 220 000 Barbadians have already registered for the Trident ID cards. She said most already had them in their possession and there were “a few” still left to be picked up.
jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb
