Sri Lanka expects to begin issuing electronic passports in less than a year, built to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament on Thursday.
A new procurement process has been started to acquire the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) security system that underpins an e-Passport, the Minister said, and tenders for it will be called shortly. Answering a question from Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Mujibur Rahman, he said the earlier PKI procurement had to be cancelled because of shortcomings in the process.
Wijepala said four e-gates have already been installed at Bandaranaike International Airport, with twelve more planned over the next year to coincide with the introduction of e-Passports.
A project that has slipped repeatedly
The timeline is the latest in a series of commitments on a project that has been stalled by procurement disputes for much of this year.
In May, Wijepala told Parliament that no tender had been awarded and that a bidder had appealed against the PKI selection process, dismissing as “completely false” allegations by Sarvajana Balaya leader Dilith Jayaweera that a Polish-linked bidder had been passed over. Days later, the Sunday Times reported that the Ministry had recommended the Thales/JIT joint venture to personalise 3.15 million passports, under a pricing structure an expert warned could leave the Department of Immigration and Emigration facing a “vendor lock-in trap.” The Cabinet then ordered the procurement cancelled with immediate effect at the end of May.
The Minister did not say when the new tender would be awarded, or who would supply the passport personalisation system itself.
Fewer pages in the P series
Responding to a separate question on the current P series passport, Wijepala said the number of pages has been cut from 64 to 48. No problems had arisen from the reduction, he said, and the Sri Lankan passport remains on par with international standards.
