JPN records 159,000 unclaimed identity cards

PEKAN: The National Registration Department (JPN) recorded a total of 159,000 identity cards (ICs) which have yet to be claimed by the owners with some of the ICs having been issued for more than two years.
JPN Director-General Datuk Mohd Yazid Ramli said the main reason for the problem had yet to be ascertained, but he did not rule out the possibility that this was due to the attitude of the owners themselves who took lightly the question of ownership of the document.
"What I can say is that everything depends on the attitude of the individuals themselves as to whether they treated the importance of the document lightly or otherwise," he told a press conference after the official opening of the MyKad Distributed Printing Hub for Pahang State at the Pekan JPN, here today.
At the event, Mohd Yazid handed over the identity card to five recipients who had applied for the card at the Pekan JPN.
Mohd Yazid said so far, individuals who failed to take their identity cards which were ready could be fined a maximum of RM40 but the department was studying to impose stricter measures to prevent the matter from continuing to occur.
"This is done so that members of the public will be more concerned about the importance of claiming the identity cards which are ready for collection," he said.
He said 55 JPN offices nationwide had been supplied with printing machines through the Mykad Distributed Printing (DPP) project to print applications for MyKad received at the departments concerned. — Bernama