THE citizens of both Malaysia and Singapore greeted news of the opening of the new Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex in Johor Baru with hope. However, since its opening, there has been one nightmare after another.
I go through the Johor Baru CIQ frequently during the morning and evening peak hours. From its opening in December 2008 until now, only 30 per cent or less of the counters are open during peak hours. Never have I seen all the counters open even when the queue snakes all the way to Singapore's side of the Causeway. The only time the place is congestion-free is when the traffic gets bad on the Singapore side.
The immigration counters are run with no plans for handling peak-hour, weekend, festive and holiday traffic. Many a time, I have seen immigration officers just switch off the lights and leave the counters at the end of their shift, making motorists wait and fume. There is no duty overlap during handover time, like the way it is on the Singapore side.
The Customs staff also have a tendency to close most lanes and open only one or two lanes. With one officer stationed to check hundreds of vehicles, this adds to the jam on the Causeway.
One wonders why the Malaysian government spent so much money to build so many lanes and counters, only to keep them perpetually closed. Some of these lanes have become permanent parking spaces for officers working at the complex.
To make matters even worse, now they have a half-baked fingerprint scanning system.
Until the situation improves, Singaporeans should forgo plans to travel up north unless it is urgent. It is not worth the trouble getting stuck in a seven-hour traffic crawl to visit a country which does not welcome you.
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