Sri Lanka To Speed Up Passport Printing; 4,000 To Be Issued Daily

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers has approved the recruitment of additional personnel to expedite the supply of passports.

This decision follows the recommendations of an intellects committee appointed to address the current passport shortage.

The procurement process has already commenced to supply 1,100,000 empty passports with "P" category chips from the supplier.

To eliminate the existing delays in passport issuance, a programme has been planned to issue 4,000 passports per day by monitoring the operations of the Department of Emigration and Immigration around the clock.

The proposal, presented by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, includes engaging retired officers from the Department on a contract basis, with the concurrence of the Public Service Commission.

Additionally, officers currently in government service will be attached to the Department with the consent of the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils, and Local Governments.