Government Whip, Alvick Maharaj says any identification system needs to be built on inclusivity and this includes ensuring that legal frameworks, requirements and procedures to register, obtain, or use identification and the data that are collected and released do not enable or reinforce discrimination against any particular group.
While giving his end of the week statement on Integrity and Credibility, Maharaj says this is why they are categorically opposed to the Fiji Bureau of Statistics publication of ethnic and religious statistics.
He says their actions threatened to reignite racial and religious tensions at a time when they absolutely must come together to overcome the current health and economic crises. Maharaj says the Bainimarama Government has worked tirelessly over the years to stamp out the remnants of Fiji’s racist, oppressive past and forge a common national identity and they remain steadfast in their commitment to move the country beyond racial and ethnic division.
He says they cannot progress if they continue to cling to these irrelevant and archaic practices.
Meanwhile, Maharaj says there is a need and an importance of maintaining proper identification records.
Maharaj says the Government has rolled out numerous assistance programmes over the years to assist Fijians with initiatives and they have learnt that there are a number of challenges in terms of the identification of the target groups for assistance, as they do not have a unique national identification number.
While responding to Maharaj’s statement, Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says there is a need to have a Trust Framework.
A Trust Framework is a collection of policies, technical specifications, and interoperability criteria that are accepted by multi-organizational participants to satisfy a particular need.
Sayed-Khaiyum says the Digital Fiji team is currently talking to the Australians in this regard.
