PETALING JAYA, July 28 ― Malay Mail found frustrated, disappointed and desperate people waiting to renew or apply for passports in the Klang Valley yesterday.

Here’s what some of those at the Kelana Jaya Immigration office and the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) in Pudu Sentral had to say about the situation.

‘Come at dawn’

Student Nurul Atiqah Noor Hamidy, 24, will be travelling to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam next week with her friends.

“I went to the Kajang Immigration office at 9am but the numbers were finished and the officer told me to start queueing at 5.30am the next day.

“He said: ‘Datang selepas sembahyang Subuh’ (come after Subuh prayers). Then, I would be able to get my passport done.”

Nurul Atuqah said the queue numbers had finished between 7.30am and 8am and only 100 numbers were given out.

“Today, I went to UTC Keramat at 9am with my friend and no one was taking care of the counters as well. From there, we left and came to UTC Pudu Sentral.”

Baffling queue system

Student Syaza Amirah Ahmad Shapani, 24, who is Nurul’s friend, said they have been trying to renew their passports over the last two days.

“We’re both from Bangi and we’ve been trying to get our passports done since Tuesday,” said Syaza Amirah, adding she was perplexed by what was going on.

“It all doesn’t make sense ... when I asked the officer here just now, he said 90 numbers were given out as a test because they said the system was down.

“How is it that the UTC is open until 10pm and numbers have run out in the morning? I asked the officer what happens if the numbers are finished and no one else was queueing up, he said they just sit and do nothing until 10pm. It doesn’t make sense.”

Another woman in her 50s said her husband had been trying to apply for a passport for two days and yesterday, just as her husband reached the counter after queueing up for almost three hours, he was told the office was out of numbers.

Travel plans affected

A student, who only wished to be known as Ng, 20, said she had gone to the Kelana Jaya Immigration office three times and has still not been able to get her passport done.

“I came here last Saturday, on Tuesday and yesterday, and all three times, the reasons were the same ... the system had gone offline.

“On Tuesday, some people told me they had queued as early as 4.30am, just to make sure they get a number.

“I am worried and unsure if I can get my passport renewed by next week because I am travelling to Singapore with my friends.

“If I cannot get it done by then, I’ll have no choice but to skip this trip, which would be really sad.”

Office to office dash

Student Rohini Rajaratnam, 23, was one of the lucky few who managed to get her passport done in a day. She had rushed from the Kelana Jaya Immigration office yesterday morning, after it was announced that no more numbers would be issued, to the UTC in Pudu Sentral, where she finally got her passport done.

“I didn’t realise my passport had expired until late last night and I’m flying off to Australia tonight. So, I went to the Kelana Jaya immigration office at 7.30am and waited in the long queue.

“At about 8.50am, the guard at the door said ‘the numbers were finished’. I called my sister as she works near UTC Pudu Sentral. She went over and took a number for me while I made my way there. When I arrived, the officer said they were not giving out any more numbers and that the system was down.

“There was also a sign that said the numbers issued had exceeded the amount of applications that can be done by 10pm. But thankfully, my sister managed to get a number for me.

“But I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt because if the policy is to get the passport on the same day, then they may have counted how many could be done in a day before issuing the ticket numbers.”