JOHOR BAHRU – Tens of thousands of foreigners are stuck in long queues at Malaysia’s two land checkpoints with Singapore following a major technical glitch, which knocked out most of the immigration autogates on Jan 10.
The worst affected is the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs Immigration and Quarantine Complex (BSI), where foreigners have been forced to wait up to two hours to clear immigration.
It was learnt that at least 39 autogates at the entry and 29 machines at the exit areas of the bus halls at BSI had experienced problems for a few days, but the system crashed totally on Jan 10 due to the huge influx of foreigners during the weekend.
The Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex (KSAB) has 12 autogates.
Malaysians using their local passports are still able to use the autogates, while the system for motorcycles and cars was also functioning properly.
“Even the autogates at the KTM train station at BSI were knocked off-line,” a security official said, adding that efforts were being made to restore the system in stages.
