The Papua New Guinea government is aiming to have all citizens registered with its National Identification and Civil Registry Office by 2021.
Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins
The acting Registrar-General Michael Kumung said so far about 500,000 people have been registered since October 2017.
Mr Kumung said about 100,000 of the registrations have been for people under 18 years old.
Mr Kumung has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pomio District Development Authority to carry out registration in their district.
The Government-funded identification project started in 2014 to provide reliable information for proper planning.
Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins
While Mr Kumung said the target is to have all registered by 2021 he admitted the challenges were enormous and so partnerships with government agencies, NGOs and provincial authorities were important.
He said the Personnel Management Department and the Education Department aims to have all staff registered by the end of the year.
The National Planning Minister Richard Maru has said that if public servants are not registered, they will not be paid.
According to the World Bank there were more than 8 million people living in Papua New Guinea in 2016.
