ISKANDAR PUTERI, March 22 —The Federal government has been actively implementing several efforts to address the issue of congestion at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex at the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) with various efforts including adding the M-Bike and e-gate (electronic gate) lanes.
Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said apart from that, the Federal government has also implemented the merger of counters for car lanes, thus expediting the process of checking passports and others.
“In terms of congestion at CIQ, we are all aware that this is not new but has been around for decades.
“However, this does not hamper the determination of the state and Federal governments to work together (in) ensuring that this issue can be resolved as soon as possible,” he said in an oral question and answer session at Johor State Legislative Assembly sitting at Bangunan Sultan Ismail, Kota Iskandar earlier today.
The Machap state assemblyman said by expanding the use of the e-gate system, for example, he said now not only Malaysians are using it but also Singaporeans.
As for the additional M-Bike (secured automated clearance system for Malaysian citizen motorcyclists) lanes, he said there will be an additional 25 lanes to the existing 50 lanes.
“The Immigration Department is fine-tuning the additional M-Bike lanes so that this matter can be implemented as soon as possible. In terms of the merging of counters, for example, at Johor Causeway, we are preparing four zones.
“Currently, motorists have to stop twice to clear the passport and Touch N’ Go. After this, motorists will only have to make one stop. That is one of the things being implemented by the Federal government,” Onn Hafiz said.
He was responding to a question from Stulang state assemblyman Andrew Chen Kah Eng, who wanted to know the government’s efforts in dealing with the Johor Causeway congestion, especially in efforts to attract investment into the state.
Earlier, Chen brought up a complaint posted by Singaporean singer Wang Lei who expressed his dissatisfaction on Facebook Live for being one of the people stranded on the Johor Causeway when entering Johor which allegedly took more than three hours.
Wang, who expressed his complaint in Mandarin, also said that this was not new but something that he and people commuting back and forth between Singapore and Johor Bahru have been facing for decades.
— Bernama
