The Registrar General’s Department (RGD) has resumed the printing of free birth certificates, following the replenishment of its security paper stock.

A week ago, the agency had to suspend the printing of the first free birth certificates and limited the maximum number of copies for which persons could apply and pay.

This was due to supply chain logistical challenges sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the production and shipment of the security paper used to print the certificates.

The suspension, which had been expected to end on September 30, came to a halt when the agency received its new shipment of paper on Tuesday (September 26).

RGD Chief Executive Officer Charlton McFarlane told the Jamaica Information Service that “we have replenished our stock of security paper, and starting today we will be resuming our standard service levels for customers”.  

McFarlane added: “Up to the time of arrival of the paper on Tuesday, we had paper left in our vaults. We would have made projections for two weeks and the paper we had would have lasted for the suspension period.

“The only real inconvenience was that they were not able to get the number of copies they needed at the time of application.”

McFarlane pointed out that, while there were customers who were disappointed during the suspension period, the RGD was still able to print and issue birth certificates with the paper that was in stock.

The CEO said the RGD’s staff members were patient in explaining the challenges to its customers, adding that “we would have put things in place to ensure that they don’t end up spending more when they come back to apply for additional copies once it was linked to their original application during the week that the suspension was in effect”.

McFarlane pointed out that, if a customer applied for two copies of a birth certificate during the suspension period, which would cost $4,000, for example, and was only allowed to pay for one copy at a cost of $2,500, they could visit the RGD and pay the additional $1,500 to get the second copy.

He said that, going forward, the agency has taken the decision to increase its buffer stock.

“We normally order [stock] on a yearly basis when we do the standard contract and we order an amount that is a function of what we expect our demand to be, plus a buffer for overflow. Now we are adding more to our buffer stock,” the CEO said.

– Jamaica Information Service