JOHOR BARU: The technical glitch involving all the autogates at both the land checkpoints with Singapore have been rectified and they are back in operation, says a state executive councillor.
Johor works, transportation, infrastructure and communications committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh (pic) said that the autogates were operational from almost midnight on Sunday (Jan 11).
However, at press time, it is still not clear as to what caused the glitch which knocked out most of the autogates at both the checkpoints for about 48 hours since Saturday (Jan 10).
The Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (BSI) in Johor Baru has 39 autogates for entry and 29 for exit while the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) at the Second Link has a total of 12 autogates.
The issue only affected those with foreign passports as neither Malaysian passport holders nor those travelling using cars or motorcycles were affected, as they do not pass through the autogates.
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The system crash mainly impacted those going through the bus halls where autogates are utilised.
The Star had earlier reported on delays of more than 90 minutes for foreigners to clear immigration during peak hours on Saturday.
The Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency, in its effort to manage the influx of visitors especially at BSI, had employed different methods including a contra flow in the bus hall, having special lanes for Malaysians and foreigners and also deploying additional people's volunteer corps (Rela) personnel to the bus halls.
It is learnt that during weekends, BSI clears more than 180,000 foreigners both ways while over at KSAB, they can clear around 50,000 foreigners.
Since June 1, 2024, visitors from 63 countries, as well as diplomats serving in Malaysia and their family members, have been eligible to use the autogates for faster clearance.
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