PESHAWAR, Sept 6: The machine-readable passports (MRPs) will be issued from October instead of September because installation of the equipment at a newly established passport office here has been delayed.

Official sources told Dawn that earlier it was planned that the machine-readable passports would be issued from September, 2004 from Islamabad and Peshawar. The installation of machinery at the Peshawar office would start on Sept 15 and the passports would be issued from October.

The Rs6 billion project, funded by the US, is a five-year programme undertaken by the interior ministry in collaboration with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

The purchase of land and construction of buildings would cost about Rs13 million under the MRP project, an official said. Under the MRP project 29 new offices would be established in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and other major cities of the country to issue computerized passports. Only two offices in Islamabad and Peshawar have been established so far.

The government has hired Nadra's services on a six-month contract to install the equipment in the various cities. "So far the work is progressing at a snail's pace as most of the officials concerned are still in dark about many aspects of the project," an official said.

The officials at the passport office here said that they were not yet informed about the fee and validity period of the new passports. The new passport offices and Nadra would be linked for verification of data.