ISKANDAR PUTERI, Nov 20 — Authorities have recently tightened the standard operating procedure (SOP) for passport control at Johor-Singapore land border crossings following a case where several motorcyclists bypassed an immigration counter without scanning their travel documents.

Johor Public Works, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said both Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) in Johor Bahru and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) in Gelang Patah were alerted after video footage of the incident went viral on social media.

“The incident mainly involved the manual passport control counters, which require immigration officers to physically inspect and scan each passport,” he told reporters after delivering the winding-up address at the Johor state legislative assembly in Kota Iskandar today.

Mohamad Fazli explained that manual passport inspections by an officer typically take more than 30 seconds per individual.

He suggested that travellers from both countries use the two types of e-Gate counters, namely MyBorderPass or the National Integrated Immigration System (MyNIlSe), which can process entry in under five seconds.

“However, only around 40,000 to 50,000 Malaysians have registered for MyNIlSe compared to more than 100,000 completed registrations involving Singaporeans,” he said.

Mohamad Fazli added that congestion is often unavoidable, but enforcement officers must ensure that no individuals bypass the proper immigration validation process.

“There have been cases where motorcyclists have passed through the manual lane without even showing their passports. This should not have happened, and that is why the SOP has now been tightened,” he said.

On November 14, the Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) reportedly detained 26 Malaysians who left the country via BSI’s CIQ motorcycle lane on October 16 without validating their passports, an offence under Section 2(2) of the Passport Act 1960.

Earlier, a 26-second video was posted on social media showing hundreds of frustrated motorcyclists honking incessantly amid a traffic gridlock at the Johor Bahru-Singapore exit and entry routes in the early morning. The video also showed a traffic jam involving motorcyclists estimated to be over five kilometres long.