Immigration posting 200 newly-graduated staff members to Johor entry points, KLIA to ease traffic

PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department will assign 200 personnel, who are fresh graduates, to Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI), Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) entry points in Johor and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the move is to curb congestion issues at these entry points.

"100 personnel will be sent to Johor while the remaining 100 will head to KLIA from Monday (May 15).

"I am confident that these additional officers will help ease crowd congestion at these facilities,” he told reporters after the Immigration Department Hari Raya celebrations on Tuesday (May 16).

Also present were Saifuddin’s deputy Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah and Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.

Saifuddin also said that in a bid to reduce congestion at BSI and KSAB, the department would begin to enforce three new shift hours to handle the entry and exit of visitors during peak periods, beginning this Sunday (May 21).

"This would help BSI especially, which is one of the country’s busiest international entry points, handling close to 220,000 daily transboundary movements.

"The three new shifts are from 9am to 6pm; 4pm to midnight and midnight to 9am. This is compared with the 7am to 4pm; 3pm to 11pm; and 11pm to 8am shifts previously," he said.

He said a dry run was conducted recently and it proved to be effective in reducing the congestion during peak hours.

Saifuddin also said that among other steps taken were constructing more autogates and combining two counters to one, which involves passport checks, as well as vehicle entry payment into Malaysia.

“Starting this August, visitors need to just make one stop, instead of two, which will cut off three to five seconds per vehicle during the process.

“These three to five seconds may seem a little, but it brings a big relief to the traffic flow,” he said.