Saddam: Increased birth/death certificate fee necessary

Carla Blackman, the mother of the first New Year's Day baby, right, completes the first bedside birth registration at the San Fernando General Hospital on January 1. From left, are, Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe, Minister of Land and Legal Affairs Saddam Hosein and Jennylyn Barton-Simon from the Registrar's Office. The baby boy was named Brandon Ace. - Photo by Innis Francis

LAND and Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hosein defended the move to increase the prices of registering births and deaths, saying it was costly to produce certificates with the necessary security features.

Speaking at the launch of the bedside birth registry pilot programme at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital on the day the new fees went into effect, Hosein said records at the Registrar General's Office showed that 9,608 births were registered between January and December 2025, and 140,434 birth certificates were issued between November 2024 and December 2025.

"When you look at the cost for the preparation of one birth certificate, because of the security features of the document, those birth certificates are specially ordered to get to Trinidad, they have to be printed, staff have to check the validity of the information before the certificate is printed and therefore it was a subsidised cost by the state."

Despite the increase, Hosein said the certificates are still being subsidised.

"So what we are doing is we are trying our best to balance the resources that we have and also easing the burden to the population. So it's a very delicate balancing exercise."

Published on Christmas Day, Legal Notice No 480 of 2025 amended the Second and Third Schedules of the Births and Deaths Registration Act. Under the new schedule, the late registration of a child born more than three months but less than one year will incur a fee of $40. Registration of a child over one year old, which requires written authority from the registrar general, will cost $100 at the registrar’s office and $150 at the superintendent registrar’s office. A declaration of birth made in a district other than where the birth occurred will cost $20, while correcting an error in the register attracts a fee of $30.

Hosein said registration of a birth is critical to a person's identity. He said the bedside registration programme would help increase the efficiency and accuracy of the process. A demonstration was done with the first baby to be born in 2026 in the country, Brandon Ace Hezekiah Peters. Under the new process, a registrar met with Brandon's mother, Carla Blackman and input all relevant information into a smart tablet. A printout of the form was made and signed by the Blackman, her husband, Isaac Peters, and the registrar before she was handed the birth certificate about a half hour later.

Under the previous system, Hosein said, the parent would be given a "cot card" (a piece of Bristol board with the baby's birth details), which would need to be taken along with the child to the Registrar General's office in the hospital to record the birth.

"Now all of that would be eliminated."

Hosein said the digital process now allows citizens to apply for a birth certificate online. The first, he said, would be issued for free and delivered via TTPost to the home.

Blackman, who has two previous children, told reporters that she was impressed by the ease and convenience of the initiative.

"Sometimes it takes a whole day. Sometimes you have to take a whole day off from work in order to get this done and both parents might not be able to get that done, given certain circumstances. So this was actually a very great initiative."

First-time father, Ryan Ramcharran, whose wife gave birth to twins, described the pilot programme as a "first-world experience."

"You don't have to go and wait and line up and sit down and wait and wait for a number. It's really, really nice. I hope the system is maintained."

Minister of Health Dr Lackram Bodoe said the San Fernando General Hospital was chosen because of the South West Regional Health Authority's technological infrastructure. Once successful, he said it would be rolled out to all other regional health authorities.