Of deadlines and system failures

The deadline set by the Emirates National Identity Authority to register for the ID card should be respected. It is part of a national strategy that should be taken very seriously by Emiratis and expatriates. This is a given.

But the concerns of nationals and residents that they may not meet the deadline also need to be considered by the authority.

There are legitimate complaints about long waiting queues and the failure of the online registration system. These complaints should be addressed to enable people to register by the set deadline.

People wishing to download application forms from the authority's website have been unable to log on for the past few weeks. Online appointments are not available before next month.

The authority should have prepared the grounds for such a massive and strategic project.

It is true that the reluctance of the initial targeted groups to register has led to a backlog - thus creating rush and chaos in the past few weeks as people scrambled to apply within the deadline.

Cooperation by the public could have made it easier for the authority to do the job. But the system could also have been equipped to deal with these or any other circumstances.