Spelling Mistakes in Passports Could Lead to Invalidity, Says Mujibur

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan Opposition MP Mujibur Rahuman claimed that the general public is facing difficulties in obtaining passports, despite claims that 4,000 passports are issued daily.

"People are suffering immensely to get a passport. This issue was created by the previous government, but it continues to persist," Rahuman stated.

He pointed out that two companies are currently handling passport issuance, costing the government $4.75 and $1.45 per passport for different services. "This dual handling has resulted in an additional cost of $0.53 per passport, leading to a loss of 119 million rupees for the government."

Rahuman also noted that the new blue passports have fewer pages than the previous red passports, yet the public is paying more. "The blue passport has 48 pages, while the red one had 64 pages. People are paying an extra 667 rupees for fewer pages."

He warned that the current passports might not meet international standards and could be invalidated if challenged in court. "There are spelling mistakes and other errors that could lead to these passports being declared invalid."

Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala responded, stating that the passport issue was not created during their administration but was inherited from previous governments. "The company handling the security features charges $1.45, and this has been the practice for a long time. We have not paid any money to the company yet, and we are not ready to take the blame for this."

Wijepala acknowledged that corruption had occurred in the past, leading to the current investigation. "The court is investigating due to the corruption that took place."