KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — The Immigration Department is reviewing its staffing at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) and Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) in Johor Bahru to curb congestion issues at the Johor entry points.
Its director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said it would involve increasing the number of staff and reducing the training period for cadets at the Immigration Academy.
He said the congestion issues had come to the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail who always strive to improve the entry process.
“…and the Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi also went down to the ground so that measures can be taken to facilitate the entry and exit process,” he said when appearing as a guest on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme titled ‘Initiatives to Address Congestion at the Country’s Entry Points’ here tonight.
He said on average the BSI recorded a movement of 250,000 people a day, adding that the number could double up during festive seasons and long holidays while the average movement at KSAB is 10,000 people a day.
On the initiative to tackle the congestion at Terminal One of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Ruslin said the department was planning to open 12 additional counters including two observation counters to facilitate the entry of tourists into the country with the cooperation of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and the Ministry of Transport by the end of the year.
When asked about the alleged corruption at the country’s entry points, he said: “The Immigration Department will not be defensive, instead we will take an open approach to cooperate with any enforcement agency to conduct investigations.
“I don’t want a few bad apples to spoil the whole bunch. We have almost 15,000 staff members but because of a few others, the rest are affected…I don’t want this to affect other officers, disrupting their morale.”
He said he would work with Immigration officers to continue delivering the services to the people more proficiently, efficiently and with integrity.
