Maputo — After a delay of around a fortnight, the Mozambican immigration authorities are now issuing the biometric passports produced by the Belgian company Semlex, reports Thursday's issue of the independent daily "O Pais".

The authorities had hoped to make the biometric passports available on 22 March, but the models produced by Semlex were marred by spelling mistakes, and did not even provide enough space for Mozambican names, which often consist of four or more words.

Semlex has corrected the mistakes, and the biometric passports are now being rolled out. Existing passports remain valid until their expiry date, and so there should be no rush to acquire the new passports.

A biometric passport costs 3,000 meticais (106 US dollars). If the passport needs to be issued urgently (within two days), the price rises to 3,750 meticais.

This is a huge price hike: the old passports cost between 150 and 300 meticais. Even worse, most of the money is pocketed, not by the Mozambican state, but by Semlex. Details of the Semlex contract were published by "O Pais" in February, showing that 60 per cent of the price paid for each passport will go to Semlex.

The cost of the biometric passport is higher than any of the current statutory minimum wages. These monthly wages range from 1,486 meticais (for agricultural workers) to 2,745 meticais (for workers in financial services).

Semlex has been producing biometric identity cards since October. Here too there was a sharp hike in prices. The old identity card cost 50 meticais, while the new one costs 180 meticais. Even at the old price, most rural Mozambicans did not have an identity card.

Pf/ (282)