The Hon. Ananda Wijepala

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, I need to clarify the passport matter raised by Hon. Mujibur Rahuman. Firstly, my village is not “Yahapahuwa” as misrendered. Secondly, you said this passport issue has been there for 22–24 years. You were in those Governments too. During the Yahapalana period, you had the chance to correct it but did not.

¶ 02 This “N Series” passport ran for 22 years. The company that issued it did so without following tender procedures. So what Hon. Mujibur said is correct. You should have fixed it in 2015 but did not. When we took over, there was a crisis — passport queues ran 38 kilometres.

¶ 03 You cannot break a rock with a single blow. This process takes at least ten months. The e-passport tender is before the Court of Appeal; there is an interim injunction. Despite that, the previous Cabinet decided to buy 1.75 million machine-readable passports as a stopgap, moving from “N” to “P” series. The company that prints and provides software security features has asked for USD 1.45 for personalization. We have not followed the old long-standing practice; nor have we paid yet. The Attorney-General has drafted an agreement following a court-mediated settlement, but we have not made payments — we will not pay for others’ sins.

¶ 04 A backlog of 125,000 passports arose. We launched 24-hour service immediately. I thank the officers of the Department of Immigration and Emigration working round-the-clock. We now issue 4,000 passports a day. When 4,000 are issued, 4,000 applicants come; that cannot be avoided. We have four regional offices — Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, and Matara. We increased daily quotas from 75 to 200 in each to ease pressure.

¶ 05 We appointed an expert committee of computer specialists from the Universities of Moratuwa and Colombo to review and prepare for a proper new tender. Their view was that since “N” ended after 22 years and “P” has begun, changing series again during transition is inadvisable; therefore procure within “P” series itself. We presented this report to Cabinet and will act accordingly after the court case ends. We pledge to move swiftly to a higher-quality e-passport once the case concludes.

¶ 06 Thank you.