Large crowds of visitors came to the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) to receive their new cards, yesterday, reports Al Rai daily. The first day, hundreds of people, many came without prior dates through the PACI website despite the requirements of the authority. The large gathering caused chaos And congestion in front of the main gate, and they failed to follow the health requirements of social distancing, while the organizers including employees and security personnel had to separate those with online appointments and those who attended without an appointment.
The Ministry of Interior, with the assistance of the security of the security company, exerted extra efforts to organize the entry process and ensure those who entered had appointments and were adhering to the health requirements, including wearing masks and gloves.
Al Rai, quoting an official source, reported that the authority confirmed that the crowding yesterday was unjustified, because many came for transactions that did not need an appointment for review, and could be completed online. The daily also mentioned an hour increase in work hours to six in the evening instead of five, and increase in the number of civil id cards to be delivered from 200 to 300 per hour, which aims to reduce crowding and to allow card storage machines to distribute cards.
The late delivery of civil id cards to their owners led to the accumulation in the machines until they reached about 100,000 cards, which caused a delay in issuing the new cards. This was the reason behind the increase in the waiting period of some people to about two months to issue their cards.
Expats with online appointments were stopped by a barrier due to their large numbers. Some of them stood near the main gate waiting for a solution or a decision to allow them to enter to receive their cards. In large numbers, they rushed to the door to enter and reach the hall, without adhering to health requirements and social distancing, as well as not wearing a mask and gloves and not getting their temperature checked. Two police patrols stood in front of the gate to organize the crowds outside the building and make way for visitor to enter in an orderly fashion to receive their civil id cards and finish their transactions, according to health requirements. Those who did not have an appointment had to come back later.