National registration department (JPN) director-general Ruslin Jusoh said parents can continue to submit new applications but will have to wait a little longer because they will process the application in stages.

“Parents can also use the birth certificate of their children for the daily affairs as it is a valid identification document,” he told reporters here today.

He urged all government and private agencies to accept these birth certificates for applications such as school admission.

Earlier, Ruslin presented MyKad to a disabled girl, Nur Aleeya Ammar, 12, through the department’s Menyemai Kasih Rakyat (Mekar) programme in Bukit Godek, Semabok Dalam. Melaka JPN director Norazle Sulaiman was present.

Ruslin said the Mekar outreach programme was introduced in 2013 to make it easier for the MyKad and birth certificates to be issued to persons with disabilities, the elderly, bedridden patients and residents in remote areas.

“We have processed 292,999 applications through 14,340 events held for the Mekar programme throughout the nation.”

Nur Aleeya’s grandmother and guardian, Rohana Ariffin, 58, said Melaka JPN Mekar unit officers had come to her house on Nur Aleeya’s birthday on Jan 5 to process the application.