The Sri Lankan government will establish 50 regional centres for issuing passports for Sri Lankans, a Minister said.
A large number of people have to travel long distances to get passports and the government wants to make the process easier with the new offices, said Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles on Sunday.
At present, four regional offices are issuing passports in Vavuniya, Kurunegala, Matara and Kandy, with the main passport office located in the capital Colombo.
Alles told the media that there will be a facility to get the passport delivered to the doorstep, Xinhua news agency reported.
He also said the Department of Immigration and Emigration will introduce an e-passport with an electronic chip soon.
Drug suspects arrested
Police in Sri Lanka announced the arrest of over 200 drug suspects in a special operation conducted in parts of the island country.
Police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa said the operation was jointly carried out by the police, special commandos and the air force in the western and southern parts of Sri Lanka, reports Xinhua news agency.
He said that during the operation, the police arrested 285 suspects for smuggling narcotics.
Thalduwa said heroin and cannabis were among the illegal substances seized during the special operation.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Navy said a large haul of cannabis was seized in the northern Jaffna peninsula during an operation carried out by the navy and police.
The navy said in a statement on Sunday that it will try to prevent the smuggling of narcotics into Sri Lanka using the sea route.