KUALA LUMPUR: Over 85 per cent of the immigration inspection and clearance process for arriving passengers or travellers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) can be completed in less than 25 minutes.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that based on the performance report of the Smart Q system, which uses the Internet of Things technology and Airport Quality of Service (QOS), the arrival process at the airport achieved its target of a short waiting period.
However, he explained that there were incidents of overcrowding at the KLIA immigration counters due to changes to flight arrival schedules, including simultaneous flight arrivals.
“In a month, there could be five or six days where flight arrivals will differ from the schedule, causing intervals of two to three minutes between arrivals. This results in immigration clearance taking up to 49 minutes while our target is less than 25 minutes.
“So, in that one month there are five to six incidents, we admit it and do not deny it. However, for the remaining 25 days, 85 per cent of passenger clearances are completed in less than 25 minutes,” he said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
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He was replying to a question from R. Yuneswaran (PH-Segamat), who asked the Home Minister about the initiatives and measures taken and to be implemented to overcome congestion at the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) Immigration, Customs and Quarantine (ICQ) Complex and KLIA.
Saifuddin said that for the smooth running of the immigration process at KLIA Terminals 1 and 2, the autogates and manual counters at both terminals are fully open at peak hours, namely from 11 am to 9 pm.
“Previously, the autogates were specifically used for Malaysians only but because the number of tourist arrivals is also big, we decided to open the autogates to (passengers) from 63 countries.
“We open all the (immigration) counters at KLIA Terminal 1, namely 60 manual counters and 10 autogates, as well as 38 manual counters and 10 autogates at KLIA Terminal 2 during peak hours for the convenience of all travellers, be it Malaysians or foreigners,” he said.
Earlier, Saifuddin said that the procurement process for the Quick Response (QR) codes for bus and motorcycle transportation modes at the BSI ICQ and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) ICQ in Johor will be made within this financial year, with an allocation of RM20 million provided as part of efforts to reduce congestion.
To an additional question by Yuneswaran regarding mitigation measures for system disruptions in face recognition technology at the autogates or counters and the QR code system, Saifuddin Nasution said efforts taken included ensuring a stable power supply by installing the uninterruptible power supply (systems).
In addition, he said the server capacity has also been enhanced, while the technical support needs to be strengthened and always be ready in case of system disruptions.
He clarified that the use of autogates at the country’s main entry points does not compromise security aspects.
