Johor Sultan On Jam

Johor adds manpower to keep more immigration counters open


Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar (Free Malaysia Today)

I am sure all of you read recently what the Sultan of Johor - the current King of Malaysia crowned last year and who will be King for the next 6 years in accordance to the rotation of the throne among the state Sultans in Malaysia - said about how he is empathetic towards those like us who are increasingly frustrated by the Singapore-Malaysia customs crossing.  The jams used to be only at the Woodlands Causeway, but ever since the influx of Singaporeans living in Johor, and the equalizing of tolls fees with Woodlands, the Tuas 2nd Crossing has experienced horrible jams of between one to three hours of waiting in the scorching sun.

It is therefore with great welcome when news today said the state immigration department is beefing up its numbers at the two land crossings into Singapore so soon after public criticism that the immigration booths are not open especially during peak hours, and just days after the Sultan made his remarks.



King of Johor in a Meeting (Malaysia Chronicle)

  Additional manpower from other parts of the state and the headquarters is being deployed at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex (CIQ) and Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ complex at the Second Link.

Besides the bigger deployment, leave for almost 1,700 officers at these two locations has been frozen to ensure adequate manpower at the counters.

The CIQ in Johor Baru is currently manned by about 1,200 officers and there are 500 at the Second Link. The customs had previously given the excuse that they were short of manpower and hence less booths were manned.

Johor immigration director Rohaizi Ibrahim said the new measures were taken from early this month.  The good news to everyone's ears - especially those who had to travel back and forth between Singapore and Malaysia for work - is that the customs are opening almost all the counters all the time.

With this latest development, the traffic situation had improved but there were also other factors that contributed to the congestion, which I think the governments in Singapore and Malaysia have to sort out quickly to prevent escalation of the congestion.  The crossings into Singapore are important for Johor's economy and both the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin were also concerned - which probably explains this quick turn of events.

So a big thank you to Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar for urging the customs and relevant departments to keep all the booths open always. It goes to show that the people’s Sultan has heard the mounting complaints from us that many of the booths were not open during peak hours and holidays.

And for the Ruler to say that he felt sorry for the thousands of Malaysians and Singaporeans who were stuck in traffic jams at the Causeway due to congestion, especially during holidays and the festive season - I say what a great compassionate King and how lucky Malaysians are to have a ruler such as Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar! 

Lastly, for those of you out there who had been procrastinating that trip over the two Causeways, we hope to see you here in JB very soon.