JOHOR BARU: An additional 251 Immigration Department officers will be deployed to the two entry and exit checkpoints here, says Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
The Mentri Besar said the new batch of officers would be posted to the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) here and Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) in Iskandar Puteri within three months.
“This will help us to better manage the congestion at BSI and KSAB, which sees more than 300,000 Malaysians crossing the border to and fro for work daily,” he said in his speech before officiating the Sungai Skudai clean-up programme at Kampung Bakar Batu near Perling yesterday.
During long holiday periods in either Malaysia or Singapore, he said over two million travellers were recorded at BSI and KSAB.
Onn Hafiz said the additional workforce would help ease traffic flow at the two-lane checkpoints.
This is part of the government’s short-term measures to reduce congestion at the Causeway and the Second Link.
“We cannot wait for the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System project to be completed by December 2026, which will help reduce the congestion at the Causeway,” he said.
“This issue has been going on for the past 20 years. There are people who wake up every day at 4am just to avoid the jam.”
On the clean-up programme, Onn Hafiz said the Drainage and Irrigation Department collected an average of 30 tonnes of waste from Sungai Skudai monthly.
“Sungai Skudai is one of the dirtiest rivers in the country. Twelve log booms will be placed at each of the river’s tributary to collect rubbish and ensure it does not flow into the main river.
“We hope to see some improvements in Sungai Skudai by September in terms of waste collected and reducing the level of pollution,” he said.
Onn Hafiz said the task of cleaning up Sungai Skudai would be handed over to four local councils, namely Johor Baru City Council, Iskandar Puteri City Council, Pasir Gudang City Council and Kulai Municipal Council.
