750,000 printed passports within one month as immediate measure: Susil

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera

Parliament, September 4 (Daily Mirror)- Steps have been taken to bring down 750,000 passports within a month as an immediate measure until the issuance of E-passport is fully implemented, Leader of the House Susil Premajayantha said today.

The Minister told parliament that the company which supplied the printed passports has been informed to provide some 750,000 passports and that the company needed some time to print and supply the stock.

He said the company was informed to provide the passports within a month and that the department of Immigration and Emigration will manage the situation until then.

Responding to a question by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, he said issuance of E-passport was delayed due to a technical issue and that the crisis of passport issuance has emerged as the department of Immigration and Emigration did not have proper planning for the transformation to the E-passport.

Opposition leader Premadasa said the Cabinet must take the responsibility of the crisis as the company for the issuance of E-passports has been selected under a unsolicited proposal without following the procurement process.

He said the selected company has failed to properly implement the project and alleged that the department of Immigration and Emigration did not have any contingency plan for the transformation.

He said the issue could not be resolved within one month as said and added that proper planning is required.