The National Identification Authority (NIA) will, from next month, commence the production of national identification cards following the installation of an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) unit. The installation is expected to avert a possible legal suit against the government of Ghana by Safran Morpho, formerly SAGEM, the Internet solution providers of the NIA. According to the terms of the contract between Safran Morpho and the NIA, the project was to have been completed in two years. The Executive Secretary of the NIA, Dr William Ahadzie, told journalists in Accra Monday that the installation of the UPS marked the completion of about 80 per cent of the NIA's contract agreement with Safran Morpho. He explained that the contract with the solution providers included site inspection activities, the training of people to operate the Data Card MX6000, which is the card production system, and an operational acceptance test to establish the working order and production demands of the equipment. All those activities should have been completed in two years, he said, adding, however, that advice from the solution providers for the NIA to acquire a UPS of a certain output to support the card production unit before it was started led to a procurement process that began last year. Dr Ahadzie said with the installation of the UPS, Safran Morpho would be invited to train people operate the unit and complete other actions next month because the French company was currently on break. He described the installation of the UPS as a milestone in the plan of action of the NIA. In anticipation of the commencement of the card production, the NIA has also instituted a comprehensive security system access control to limit the movement of persons on its premises in order to secure data and information. An upgraded and dedicated local area network is also in place and links the card production unit with the NIA's important additional support equipment. The Data Card MX 6000 has the capacity to produce 1,500 cards an hour, and with the six units installed, it can produce 9,000 cards within the same time. Dr Ahadzie said the production of cards would go hand in hand with other mass registration activities in the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions of Ghana. Preparatory works are ongoing at the moment for the mass registration exercise to begin in the Brong Ahafo Region next month. Most of the mobile work station equipment for registering applicants have been conveyed to the region and kept in a secure place, while the identification and training of registration officials is ongoing. The NIA has also held meetings with regional and district officials in the Brong Ahafo Region as part of the preparatory actions, while an office of the authority is to be opened soon to help in the co-ordination of efforts during the mass registration exercise. Source: Daily Graphic