JOHOR BARU: Making travelling through the Causeway and Second Link easier should be among the top priorities of the upcoming Malaysia Checkpoints and Border Agency (MCBA), stakeholders said.
In welcoming the setting up of MCBA, Malaysian Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong said Malaysia will now have a single agency in charge of border control, akin to that in other countries.
He said this will help clear the current confusion arising from having many agencies involved in border matters.
Leong, who is also Johor Tourist Guides Association chairman, said MCBA should look at using the latest technology such as biometric scanners at the two land checkpoints with Singapore for immigration clearance.
“We already have such technology in place at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where it takes only a few seconds to clear immigration checks.
“Such technology should be used at the Causeway and Second Link to make clearance faster and more effective,” he said in an interview.
Johor Indian Business Association president P. Sivakumar said the formation of MCBA should make it much easier to control the thousands of people travelling in and out of the country, especially at the two land borders with Singapore.
“Congestion at the Causeway and Second Link is getting worse as the volume of daily travellers surges. Singaporeans like to come here as their currency is much stronger than our ringgit, while Malaysians go there for work.
“The state government, in particular Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, has been addressing congestion at the two land borders but the matter should not just rest on his shoulders alone,” he said.
