JOHOR BARU: The Immigration Department's new shift hours at both the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) and Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) entry points will help ease the work pressure on its personnel, says Segamat MP R. Yuneswaran.
The PKR lawmaker welcomed the announcement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail as it showed the government's seriousness in addressing congestion problems at the checkpoints.
"As an elected representative from Johor, who is well aware of the bottleneck problems especially at the Causeway, I believe the new shift system will help ease the situation.
ALSO READ: Immigration Dept working hard to ease congestion
"The change involves three work shifts, namely 9am to 6pm, 4pm to midnight, and midnight to 9am.
"This is a proactive measure ... to solve traffic congestion, especially during peak hours," he said in a statement on Wednesday (May 17).
Previously, the shifts were from 7am to 4pm, 3pm to 11pm and 11pm to 8am.
Yuneswaran added the shift changes were also in line with Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi's efforts to see that traffic control is improved at BSI here and KSAB in Iskandar Puteri.
He said the new shift system, which would come into effect on Sunday (May 21), was an immediate step to ease traveller clearance at the checkpoints without compromising Immigration procedures.
ALSO READ: Immigration posting 200 newly-graduated staff members to Johor entry points, KLIA to ease traffic
"I also welcome the addition of 100 new Immigration personnel who will be stationed at BSI and KSAB from next Monday (May 22).
"The increase allows the department to (divide) duties evenly among the shifts for smooth flow of people through the checkpoints," he added.
On Tuesday, Saifuddin said Immigration would assign 200 personnel who are fresh graduates to BSI, KSAB and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Saifuddin also said the department would introduce new shift rotations to handle the entry and exit of visitors during peak periods.
"This would help BSI especially, which is one of the country's busiest international entry points, handling close to 220,000 daily trans-boundary movements," he added.
ALSO READ: I'm seeking solutions, not merely finding fault, says Johor MB
The minister said a dry run was conducted recently and it proved to be effective in reducing congestion during peak hours.
Saifuddin said other steps taken included constructing more autogates and combining passport checking and vehicle entry payment counters into one.
From August, visitors need to just make one stop instead of two, in a time-saving measure.
The minister said these few seconds may seem inconsequential but would have a big effect on overall traffic flow.
