JOHOR BARU: The Immigration Department's new shift hours are causing massive congestion at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) here, says Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
The Johor Mentri Besar said that there is a need to immediately re-evaluate the effectiveness of the new shift rotation.
"The new rotation schedule has caused major congestion at the BSI. I urge the Immigration Department secretary-general to observe the situation himself," he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (May 23).
He also included a video showing congestion on the motorcycle lanes at the BSI.
He added that Immigration should also listen to the views of its staff manning the checkpoints.
"Traffic flow at the BSI improved last week. However, the situation changed over the past few days.
"What I suggested previously was for shift changes not to occur during peak hours. The revision of the shift schedule falls under Immigration and should be refined by its leader while taking into consideration the opinions of staff working at BSI," he said.
On Tuesday (May 16), Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that the Immigration Department would implement three new shift hours at the BSI and the Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) to handle the entry and exit of visitors during peak periods beginning Sunday (May 21).
"This would help BSI especially, which is one of the country's busiest international entry points, handling close to 220,000 daily transboundary movements.
"The three new shifts are from 9am to 6pm; 4pm to midnight and midnight to 9am, compared to the 7am to 4pm; 3pm to 11pm; and 11pm to 8am shifts previously," he said.
