JERTIH, May 5 — After 40 years of waiting, a senior citizen who lost his identity card finally received the document yesterday.

The problem faced by Embong Muhamad, 71, was not due to the mistake of the National Registration Department (NRD) but due to the actions of some irresponsible party who deceived him into believing he could depend on a temporary identity card.

The new identity card (MyKad) and a new birth certificate were handed over by National Registration Department (NRD) director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh at Embong’s house Kampung Lay Out Gerai here.

Meanwhile, in another development, Ruslin said there were some 20,000 MyKads throughout the country which were unclaimed by the owners for 18 months.

He said the owners of the cards have been given until the end of the year to claim their MyKads before action was taken.

Ruslin said, beginning May 2 the NRD has reduced the validity period of a temporary identification document for those applying for identity cards (MyKad) from 90 days to 30 days. — Bernama