JOHOR BARU, April 4 — The Johor Immigration Department said it is prepared to manage an expected high traffic flow of more than 360,000 visitors a day entering both land border entrances in the state during the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri period.
The various initiatives to overcome traffic congestion will focus on the immigration counters at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complexes at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) here and Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) in Iskandar Puteri.
Johor Immigration Department director Baharuddin Tahir said the department is expecting a significant increase in visitor traffic for this year, compared to the same period last year.
“Based on last year’s statistics, he said the total number of visitors at both land border entrances for three days, consisting of the day before to the second day of Hari Raya, was at 357,265 visitors.
“The expected figures for this year will see a very significant increase compared to the post-Covid-19 period in 2022,” he said in a statement today.
Baharuddin said the expected increase was also based on the recent figures at BSI and KSAB with a recorded entry of 414,158,834 visitors during the period from January to March this year.
He said this would be at an average of 11,258,721 visitors per month or 367,076 visitors on a daily basis.
“In connection with that, the immigration counters for cars, motorcycles andbuses, at both BSI and KSAB would be optimally opened,” he said, adding that counters will only be closed due to maintenance or facing technical problems.
Baharuddin said among the other initiatives was deploying the Quick Response Team (QRT) that will be manned by newly enlisted personnel.
“The QRT will be on duty in the morning and evening shifts to focus on managing locations that experience congestion.
“A total of 12 QRT personnel will be stationed at the BSI and 20 QRT personnel at KSAB,” he said.
Baharuddin said other initiatives will be the contra line activation on the bus route that can reduce the waiting time of visitors by aa much as 50 per cent.
He said there will also be additional counters for both the manual and auto lanes, including the car and hybrid zones, that will be activated according to the traffic flow.
Meanwhile, Baharuddin said traffic flow information and the current conditions of the two main entry points will be shared through the department’s official social media platforms throughout the festive season.
It was reported on March 27 that Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi had hit back at the Immigration Services Union Peninsular Malaysia (KPISM) after it told the menteri besar to address people’s issues beyond border checkpoints.
This came after an earlier statement by KPISM’s president Ajeet Singh Gurbax Singh which took issue on the menteri besar’s frequent surprise visits to the BSI and KSAB checkpoints.
On March 24, Onn Hafiz expressed his disappointment with the Johor Immigration Department after more than 13 counters along at the checkpoint’s car route were closed to the public, causing massive traffic congestion.
The Machap assemblyman has constantly urged the Immigration Department to expedite in solving the massive congestion at the CIQ complexes at both the BSI and KSAB.
Onn Hafiz’s focus on the issue has won him praise from ordinary Johoreans who commute via both checkpoints daily.
