Keeping watch: Onn Hafiz said he and Mohamad Fazli will continue to check on the two border links. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: Improvements are being made at the two border crossings between Johor and Singapore with constant monitoring from the state government.
State works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said he and Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi started making regular unannounced visits to the two land Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complexes since the fasting month in March.
“In the weeks leading up to Hari Raya Aidilfitri, we started making regular visits to the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) and the Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) as preparation for the holiday season as we expected huge crowds during that period.
“These visits continue until now and in less than two months since we initiated the approach, we are already seeing improvements.
“The over 70 visits the Mentri Besar mentioned in the state assembly were only from the fasting month until now. If we were to include all other visits since the reopening of the border in April last year, it will be in the hundreds,” he told The Star yesterday.
Mohamad Fazli said that the visits, which were mostly done impromptu, were never meant to paint a negative picture of any of the agencies involved on managing the Causeway and Second Link.
“I know that there are those on social media painting negative perceptions of certain agencies following our visits.
“That has never been the intention. In fact, we are here to support the agencies which are also facing challenges in addressing the congestion issue.
“This is a legacy problem that has been going on for years. What we are now doing is to address the problem one by one and this can be done with the support and commitment of these agencies,” he said.
Mohamad Fazli said the visits also allowed the state government to find out the problems faced by agencies such as the Immigration and Customs departments at the border.
“We are not only focusing on making sure that traffic flow is smooth but we also want to see that the welfare of those handling the CIQs are well taken care of. It is important to keep their morale high,” he said.
The exco member said issues that contributed to congestion at the CIQ went beyond merely having enough counters open.
“While that is crucial, it is not the only thing we are focusing on. We are also talking to bus companies to provide more services, negotiating with lorry drivers on a suitable schedule to avoid congestion and fixing faulty facilities among other things,” he said.
On Thursday, Onn Hafiz told the state assembly that he had visited BSI 60 times and KSAB 14 times to conduct checks.
He said Mohamad Fazli and he would continue conducting checks until the issue was resolved consistently.
