A stock of passports is expected to be received on Saturday, with the issuance of new passports commencing from Monday next week, the government announced today.
Addressing the media, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Vijitha Herath said that the government had held a special Cabinet meeting to specifically resolve the passport crisis.
“As we all know, the previous Cabinet had approved a tender to purchase 750,000 passports from a new supplier and they had been unable to deliver the stock of passports as promised. The former Cabinet had then decided to obtain normal passports from the same company, but a conflict had arisen as the previous supplier was entitled to printing as per their contract. The matter had been taken to court, where an agreement was made and permission granted for the purchase of 750,000 passports,” he said.
Minister Herath further said the previous supplier had agreed in court to print the passports for a certain price, adding that based on the court order, a special Cabinet meeting was held during which it was decided to allow the previous supplier to provide the necessary passports in batches.
Stating that Cabinet approval has been granted for the purchase of passports, the minister said the issuance of new passports will commence from Monday and the government hopes to resolve the crisis shortly.
“The ordered 750,000 new passports will finish within a period of three or four months, after which we will be required to make fresh orders,” he said.
Minister Vijitha Herath said, as such, the government has decided to introduce a new system under which tenders will be called for to obtain more passports and that the decision was taken at the recent Cabinet meeting.
The Cabinet Spokesman also pointed out that as there was an interim injunction against the proposed E-passport system, the government could not proceed with the tender process.
He further said that measures in this regard can only be taken following the conclusion of the court case. (Newswire)