‘CIQ e-gate upgrade ongoing since May’

Upgrading works at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs Immigration and Quarantine complex in Johor Baru are expected to be fully completed by February next year. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

THE upgrading of e-gates at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex is meant to ease daily commute.

Johor works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh rebutted a report by a blog which had claimed that the timing of the works was to deter Malaysians returning home from Singapore to vote in the 15th General Election (GE15).

“The purpose of the upgrade is to make it easier for thousands who travel between Malaysia and Singapore daily via the Causeway.

“It has nothing to do with GE15 as upgrading works at BSI have been ongoing since May; we are doing it in phases and it will be completed by next February.

“In fact, the works to increase the number of e-gates will be completed by Nov 10 and Malaysians have ample time to come back to vote,” he told StarMetro.

Mohamad Fazli, who is also Pagoh Umno division Youth chief, said it was irresponsible of certain quarters to twist facts just for political mileage.

“We are not closing all of the counters for the upgrading works at BSI.

“There will be 18 counters open for pedestrians, including a designated counter for senior citizens, pregnant women, the disabled and those who hold permanent resident status in Malaysia.

“We will be increasing the number of e-gates from 14 to 32 units for the inbound route and from 14 to 26 units for the outbound route, facilitating faster clearance for pedestrian travellers,” he said.

Mohamad Fazli also said that besides increasing the number of e-gates, the upgrade would involve 74 counters for cars at BSI, which have been divided into four zones to speed up works.

He explained that the upgrade was being carried out now because of the lack of workers and failure to obtain some parts from abroad due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

“We have to remember that Malaysia only reopened its borders on April 1.

“Some of the vendors could not meet the deadline we set, which was why the work started a month later,” he said.

Mohamad Fazli added that the upgrade would enable the Immigration Department, Road Transport Department and highway concessionaire PLUS to converge their services for faster clearance.

Previously, he said, cars had to stop at two separate locations to pay toll charges and road charge before entering Malaysia.