Twelve years after the then Minister of Justice Knut Storberget (Ap) launched new ID cards and passports, the project is again hit by delays.
As written by Aftenposten, which has gained access to a new status report that shows that only 49 % of the project is completed, and that the new passports and ID cards will be ready by January 2020 at the earliest.
“Work on the introduction and technology development of new passports and ID cards has been more complicated than expected, and several assumptions have changed along the way. There have been major delays, and the costs have been far higher than initially thought. The police take it very seriously,” Assistant Police Director Håkon Skulstad told the newspaper.
Over the past year, project costs have increased by NOK 70 million to NOK 620 million, in addition to construction investments for NOK 120 million.
The reason politicians decided to introduce the new passports and ID cards is that it is now far too easy to operate with false identity in Norway.
In Sweden and in 18 other countries, they introduced the new identification papers ten years ago.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
