JOHOR BARU, July 25 — A Johor government task force is proposing that all electronic payments for vehicles be made at immigration counters at the Sultan Iskandar Building’s (BSI) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex to ease congestion.

BSI task force chairman Andrew Chen Kah Eng said a car has to stop twice at the checkpoint, causing disruption to the traffic flow.

"Our findings revealed that a car will spend an average of 13 seconds for the immigration clearance and another 10 seconds to make a separate payment at another counter.

"This arrangement causes traffic to be moving at a really slow pace because another car cannot enter the immigration counter while another is paying the Road Charge (RC) and toll,” he told a media conference during a visit to the BSI’s CIQ complex today.

At present, payment counters for the RC and toll for cars were located about four metres apart from the immigration counters.

Chen, who is also Stulang assemblyman, said the waiting period would be much longer if a car does not have enough balance in their Touch ‘n Go cards and have to top up at another counter nearby.

He pointed out that by moving the electronic payments to the immigration counters inside the BSI, it would cut the waiting time to just 10 seconds and make it much easier and hassle-free for inbound vehicles from Singapore.

"I will also propose for the BSI management to provide more Rela personnel to man the traffic flow and also request for signages from the Public Works Department to improve traffic flow,” said Chen, adding that all four lanes in the complex should be fully utilised.

The BSI that houses the CIQ in Johor Baru is known as the country’s busiest land entry and exit point.

An average of 154,000 vehicles, consisting of cars, motorcycles and lorries, use the CIQ daily while the number increases for passenger vehicles during weekends or public holidays.

Chen revealed that just last month alone, about 96,338 cars entered Malaysia through the BSI.

He assured the public that the task force was still collecting data on the situation.

"Once it is completed, together with the suggestions, it would be given to the state government as well as Home Ministry, Works Ministry and Transport Ministry for their perusal,” said Chen.

On July 9, Chen and Perling assemblyman Cheo Yee How, were appointed by the state Pakatan Harapan government to head two separate task forces for the BSI and Sultan Abu Bakar Complex near the Tuas Second Link.

The task force members comprise staff from the relevant government departments and agencies involved in the operations of the checkpoints.