Accra, Dec. 1, GNA - The National Identification Authority (NIA) will begin mass production of National Identification Cards for residents of Greater Accra Region from Monday, December 6.

Dr William Ahadzie, NIA Executive Secretary, told newsmen in Accra on Wednesday that distribution of the cards would begin in January 2011. He said the Authority had completed installation of technical equipment, recruitment and training operational staff.

The equipment include security devices and access control system, he= avy duty Uninterrupted Power Supply units, Local Area Network to link the Automated Fingerprint Identification System and database to the card production. "The authority has also installed MX6000 Data Card printing equipmen= t with the capacity to produce 60,000 ID Cards per day," Dr Ahadzie said. On the mass registration exercises embarked upon between July 2008 a= nd May 2010, the NIA Executive Secretary said the Authority registered a tot= al of 11,978,327 people out of the estimated population of 14,216,221 representing 84.26 per cent for six regions.

Available statistics indicate that Greater Accra Region recorded 3,205,611 out of estimated 3,469,983 representing 87.50 per cent; Ashanti=

Region 3,026,474 out of estimated 3,485,906 representing 86.82 per cent; and Volta Region 1,344,104 out of estimated 1,606,889 people representing 84.= 50 per cent. The rest are: Central Region 1,232,671 out of the estimated 1,561,93= 7 representing 78.24 per cent; Eastern Region 1,582,886 out of estimated 2,055,038 representing 77.46 per cent; and Western Region 1,586,581 out o= f estimated 2,036,468 representing 75.57 per cent. Dr Ahadzie appealed to residents in Greater Accra Region who noticed=

any anomaly on their registration slip to contact the NIA office for the necessary correction before the cards were printed. On the procedure for ID Cards distribution next year, Dr Ahadzie explained that the process would involve packing the cards according to registration centre numbers.

"Applicants would have to authenticate by submitting the collection slip issued during the registration and their fingerprints. taken to correspond with those stored on the card before the card would be given o= ut. "Persons who do not have their collection slips will still receive their ID Cards as their fingerprints would be taken after mentioning thei= r names and their cards located," he added. Registration of residents in the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper West a= nd Upper East Regions, are expected to begin by the end of March 2011. It has been estimated to cost about GH¢8,715,225 for the four Regi= ons.