SIBU: Application for late registration of death certificates received at National Registration Department (JPN) branch offices will be processed and forwarded to JPN Sarawak headquarters for decision.
The applications will be settled within 20 days from the date of receipt of application.
This was stated by JPN Putrajaya in a statement yesterday in response to an article published in The Borneo Post titled ‘Timeline For Issuance of Death Certificates Must Be Reasonable, Not Burdensome’ on March 27.
In the article, Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang stated that JPN Sarawak should liaise with its Sibu branch in expediting the issuance of death certificates within the shortest possible time.
She noted that the closure of the JPN office at UTC Sibu from Feb 19 to March 17 due to the enforcement of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) had caused severe delay and backlog in the issuance of the death certificates.
Chang had said in pre-Covid-19 times, normally, the next-of-kin would need to register the death of a family member with the Registry of Births and Deaths at JPN within seven days from the day of death.
In response, JPN Putrajaya clarified that based on Section 24, application of late registration of deaths in Sarawak (over seven days from day of death) will be registered under the Births & Deaths Registration Ordinance (Sarawak Cap. 10).
“The office affected by the recent closure decision had been instructed to expedite the process of late registration of deaths to enable the death certificate to be issued between seven and 14 days to the dependents,” it said.