The reasoning behind a national identity card is not in doubt. A safe and secure identity card will weed out illegal elements in our society, making it safer and even more secure for all. It will be unified form of identification, readily acceptable by all pertinent authorities and bankers.
The issue has always been the means of introduction and how to make everyone living here legally obtain one. That is a daunting administrative and organisational exercise which, despite the best efforts of the Emirates Identity Authority, has not gone as smoothly as officials would like.
The reality is that every expatriate living here legally does so on the basis of a residence visa that usually is renewed every three years at most.
By synchronising the ID programme with the renewals of residence visas, every legal worker and resident here will be able to obtain an ID card within two years.
We must acknowledge the leading role played by the government of Umm Al Quwain for its vision in showing the other emirates the way forward. Now, Fujairah too is linking the two. This process of synchronisation will end all of the problems associated with the introduction of the ID card.
