A senior official at the Public Security Ministry is under scrutiny for allegedly violating the Government’s established tender procedure, causing widespread public inconvenience due to long queues at the Department of Immigration and Emigration, according to a key Government source who spoke to The Sunday Morning.
The source revealed that the senior ministry official was alleged to have made several unilateral decisions without obtaining the necessary approvals from the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) or the Standing Cabinet-Appointed Negotiating Committee (SCANC).
Million-dollar deal
As learnt by The Sunday Morning, three major international passport suppliers participated in the tender, quoting prices of approximately $ 6, $ 8, and $ 10 per passport, respectively, from lowest to highest.
However, it is alleged that a consultant to the Public Security Ministry had advised splitting the chip and software from the e-passport in the middle of the procurement process, which had led to separate quotes for the two parts. This is alleged to have prompted appeals from two of the companies involved.
The highly placed source highlighted that consultants should not interfere in procurement processes or offer advice without approval from the tender board. If the chips and software are supplied separately, the prices quoted for the passports would be significantly altered, the source claimed.
Meanwhile, during the appeal process, as passport stocks dwindled, the ministry is alleged to have ignored a proposal from the previous supplier, who had agreed to provide 500,000 passports if an order was placed early, which could have averted the current shortage.
Instead, the ministry official had allegedly allowed the selected bidder to supply 750,000 passports without chips or software at a reduced price, minus one USD cent per passport.
The source highlighted that although it appeared as a minor reduction, the deal amounted to millions of dollars. The tender was initially for e-passports, but the same company is now supplying regular passports, which the source claims is a violation of the tender terms. The ministry official, it is argued, lacked the authority to make such decisions without tender board approval.
The previous supplier had committed to delivering 500,000 passports within six days, while another company was asked to confirm whether it could supply 100,000 passports within six hours. The source insisted that these decisions should not have been made by the ministry official alone, as they contravened basic tender procedures.
Meanwhile, a committee composed of key Government officials, including the Secretary to the Prime Minister, the Secretary to the President, and Treasury officials, was appointed by the Cabinet to oversee the procurement of five million e-passports. However, the committee later withdrew from the process, as its recommendations were deemed ineffective due to the advanced stage of the crisis.
The source further alleged that the new passport stocks may not arrive before the upcoming election and were more likely to arrive in October. The process, according to the source, was highly irregular, with the ministry official accused of violating fundamental tender guidelines.
Long queues
Meanwhile, the situation at the Department of Immigration and Emigration has become increasingly dire.
Despite efforts by the Sri Lanka Police to manage the growing crowds, long queues continue to form outside the Battaramulla office, leading to widespread public frustration.
In response to the delay in issuing passports and long queues, the Police has been issuing tokens to those waiting in line, but many, including those who had arrived in the early hours of Friday (30 August), had still been left without tokens after hours of waiting.
One such individual, Nelika Karunaratne, a 54-year-old mother, had been waiting in line since 2 a.m., hoping to secure a token for her daughter, who needed a passport for her upcoming studies abroad. “We’ve been waiting for hours, but we haven’t even received a token. We desperately need a passport, but we’re stuck in this queue,” she told The Sunday Morning.
Similar frustrations were voiced by other applicants, who lamented the inefficiencies of the system. “There used to be an online system to book appointments. I had an appointment last Thursday, but now I have to wait in line again just to get a token. The decisions taken by the Government only seem to affect the general public, and not the rulers,” one applicant said.
In mid-2023, the Ministry of Public Security, through the Department of Immigration and Emigration, launched an international competitive bidding process to procure 5,000,000 electronic passports (e-passports) and 500,000 ‘N’ series blank Machine-Readable Passports (MRPs).
The invitation for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) was extended to qualified and capable suppliers, who were required to submit their proposals through their respective governments. This process, managed under reference number PS/03/PB/PR/05/13/23, was overseen by the Public Security Ministry from its headquarters at the Suhurupaya building in Battaramulla.
As of the first quarter of 2023, Sri Lanka’s passport ranked 99th globally according to the Guide Passport Ranking Index. Additionally, the Henley Passport Index, which measures the number of destinations a passport holder can visit without a visa, ranked the Sri Lankan passport 103rd in 2022, with visa-free access to 42 destinations.
Ministry response
Nevertheless, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles clarified the allegations about delays in the passport procurement process.
“There is no delay. For 23 years, we have been using the same passports from the same company, and during this period, no tenders were called. We were consistently ordering passports from a single party.
“This time, however, I insisted on calling for a worldwide tender. When we issued the tender, we specifically requested bids for the latest e-passports. Previously, we were paying $ 5.89 per passport for the old version. The tenders for e-passports resulted in a new price of $ 5.05 and the tender was awarded accordingly.
“We planned it in such a way that the old passports would be used up by the time the new ones arrived. This was to avoid wasting public money by discarding unused passports. Unfortunately, after the tender was awarded, a party that had quoted a much higher price filed an appeal.
“The Government sector has a process for appeals: 14 days are given to file an appeal, the appeal board then takes four weeks to review it, and the result is announced after a total of almost eight weeks. This process caused the delay,” Alles explained.
Minister Alles further noted that during the appeal process, the ministry had to reduce the issuance of passports to approximately 1,100 per day until the available stock was depleted.
“We have already placed the order and are pushing the supplier to expedite the delivery schedule. The entire tender covers five million e-passports, and due to the delay, we have requested 750,000 passports without chips, which is still within the same order,” he added.
Meanwhile, a source from the Public Security Ministry alleged that significant sums of money were involved in the process.
“If the e-passport costs $ 5.05, the price for a regular passport should be around $ 3. However, during the appeal process, we requested an additional 100,000 passports from the same supplier, but they stated their minimum order was 500,000. If we had placed that order, it would have cost Rs. 894 million. We cannot justify wasting Government money like that,” the source said.
Public Security Ministry Secretary Viyani Gunathilaka also confirmed that orders had been placed for five million e-passports.
He said that the ministry had not taken unilateral decisions and that all decisions had been made collectively, with relevant departments involved in the process.
He further acknowledged that a consultant had separated the chip and software components of the e-passport during the procurement process, but assured that these issues had been resolved before the matter was referred to the Standing Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee (SCAPC).
When asked if the upcoming order would include the necessary software materials, the Secretary indicated that, as an immediate solution, chipless passports would be procured.
Responding to concerns about the timely supply of passports by the previous supplier, Gunathilaka stated that the company had agreed to deliver within six to eight weeks after establishing Letters of Credit (LCs).
Regarding the procurement of 750,000 passports, he said: “We are yet to place the order; we are waiting for Cabinet approval. We expect a decision tomorrow (2).”
When asked about the tender process, he stated: “We have different levels of tender approval – departmental, ministerial, and Cabinet. All these tenders are handled at the Cabinet level.”
The Sunday Morning learns that as of Friday (30 August) afternoon, the long queues in front of the passport office in Battaramulla had already been cleared by the Police by issuing tokens that contain dates and times for applicants to return to the Immigration and Emigration Department.