New Border Agency Taking Over

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High traffic: People walking along the BSI complex in Johor Baru. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
AKPS to solely oversee all checkpoints nationwide in bid to improve efficiency
JOHOR BARU: The newly formed Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) is expected to formally begin operations tomorrow, taking over 114 border checkpoints nationwide in stages.
It is learnt that the first phase would involve about 22 checkpoints nationwide including Malaysia’s busiest checkpoints mainly the Johor Causeway and Second Link.
Two other checkpoints in Johor will involve the Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Pasir Gudang Port.
A Home Ministry official said AKPS’ functions and roles would be similar to Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
“Two women officers from the Customs Department have been appointed as the AKPS heads for the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (BSI) and Sultan Abu Bakar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (KSAB) in the Second link.
They are Roszita Dim for BSI and Nor Fazilah Zainal for KSAB.
The official said that AKPS would be taking over, in stages, various checkpoints throughout the country including 56 via sea, 30 via land and 28 via airports.
“Sarawak has the most number of checkpoints with 34, followed by Johor (16) and Sabah (14),” the official said, adding that the formation of AKPS has been in the works since 2018.
The official hopes that with the one-stop border agency, congestion at the two land borders with Singapore would be further eased with proper command and coordination among the many agencies.
“The agency’s main aim is to be the sole enforcement agency in border control at all our checkpoints nationwide.
“It will take some time before AKPS takes over all 114 checkpoints nationwide,” the official said, adding that their officers would also be tasked with optimising manpower and resources.
On the first phase beginning tomorrow, the official said that AKPS would be taking over five checkpoints in Sabah, four each in Johor and Sarawak, three in Selangor, two in Penang and one each in Kelantan, Kedah, Pahang and Terengganu.
Meanwhile, state works, transportation, infrastructure and communication committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh when contacted confirmed that AKPS would operate in four locations in Johor beginning Feb 1.
“We hope the transition will be smooth at both our checkpoints with Singapore.
“The state government hopes this will help ease congestion at our checkpoints,” he said adding that currently there were more than 20 agencies handling different roles at BSI alone.
He said this one-stop agency was important to ensure coordination as presently during congestion at the bus halls, Immigration would need to notify the Customs Department to open up their counters to allow for contra flow.
“We expect with AKPS all the red tape can be eased especially with regards to coordination and command,” he said, adding that the same method would be used with other lanes during congestion. - Star

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