The government’s decision to continue with a 20-year contract with a Malaysian printing company for passport production is being heavily questioned, and it is clear this move may be a costly mistake.
The contract was signed in 2015 by the DCC Government and IRIS Corporation Berhad in November 2015 and involved printing 10,000 passports per year. The Malaysian company will be paid a fixed USD 110 per passport, regardless of additional costs, and is set to last for two decades.
The e-passport system was launched by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare at the Honiara International Terminal sometime after the contract was signed.
The e-passport system was intended to improve border control, reduce waiting times, and ease travel burdens.
Applicants had to be physically present to register their photo, signature, and fingerprints.
People are now questioning the contract. It has been raising broader questions about why the government is outsourcing passport production to a foreign company when such services could be handled domestically.
As one local in Honiara rightly pointed out, it makes no sense to pay a Malaysian company when similar work could be done in-country, potentially cutting costs and supporting local businesses. This long-term agreement, which also involves annual payments without room for renegotiation, seems wasteful when it could be more economically viable to invest in local infrastructure and talent.
This situation calls for immediate change. The contract should either be canceled or reassessed thoroughly at the end of its term.
Continuing to pay an overseas company for a service that can be provided locally only serves to drain government resources and affect national growth. The government must act decisively to ensure that the interests of the local economy and taxpayers are prioritized and that similar mistakes are avoided in future contracts.
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Thoughts? Iumi stori
For how many passports? 100,000 or 10,000
10,000