The government says the Cabinet has decided to call fresh tenders for the issuance of passports, without further exacerbating the current shortage.
Cabinet Spokesman Minister Vijitha Herath told the media today that the tender process will require a few months.
He said, as such, the Cabinet has decided to call for fresh tenders as soon as possible so that it could be prepared to continue the issuance of new passports as and when the deal for the current 750,000 passports ends.
“Under the current circumstances and as per the recent court order, the government has purchased 750,000 passports from a new company that was selected by the former government. Printing of the passports was granted to the old company that had previously supplied passports,” he said.
Minister Herath pointed out that the current order of 750,000 passports will only be sufficient for the next four to six months and that the passports are being issued in batches.
He said therefore, as the ordered passport stock ends in the next few months and the tender process also takes a similar period, the Cabinet has approved the government’s decision to call for fresh tenders now.
Minister Herath said that through this move the government hopes to avoid a further shortage of passports in the future.
