JOHOR BARU: The vendor of the National Integrated Immigration System (MyNIISe) has been told to prepare mitigation plans ahead of Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link operations, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (pic).
The Home Minister said the government is committed to minimising any form of technical disruption involving the new system.
"What I stressed to the vendor or service provider developing the system is to slightly change their approach and not only think about conducting a post-mortem after something happens.
"They must come with a pre-mortem approach whereby, before something happens, they have thought about what could go wrong and prepared a mitigation plan," he told a press conference after visiting the RTS Link here on Friday (May 8).
He was asked about the government's preparations and backup plans in the event of a system breakdown.
The minister said the replacement of the decades-old Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs) with MyNIISe was part of efforts to reduce glitches.
"The fact that we chose to implement this new system means we acknowledge the need to improve the existing one so that disruptions we are already familiar with become a thing of the past.
"Replacing the old system with a new one will involve a transition and integration phase.
"There will be glitches here and there. That is inevitable. No system is perfect during such a process. What is most important is the Home Ministry’s commitment to mitigating those disruptions," he said.
He added that the RTS here will have a total of 220 autogates.
"My inspection today confirmed that all of them have been installed and we will soon carry out the integration process using the MyNIISe system," he said.
Asked about a two-hour system glitch affecting the country's entire immigration system on April 22, the minister said it involved the old system.
"We know these disruptions occur because, as long as we are still relying on the old system until the new one becomes fully operational, we will continue to face such issues.
"I do not blame the public if there is still a stigma because this system has been in use for decades.
"So, if there are questions based on past experiences and disruptions previously reported by the media, give us the opportunity to implement this new system," he said.
The Star previously reported that tens of thousands of people were stuck in long queues at entry points nationwide after the country’s entire immigration system crashed following a major disruption on April 22.
Citing a Home Ministry official, the report added that the disruption affected most of the country's checkpoints nationwide.
