Put upgrading on hold until after school break, MB tells immigration dept

Put upgrading on hold until after school break, MB tells immigration dept

After the recent blackout at the Johor Bahru CIQ complex, Onn Hafiz Ghazi says new signboard project can wait.

A blackout at the Johor Bahru CIQ complex on Dec 6 caused massive congestion and forced immigration officers to conduct their processes manually. (Bernama pic)
JOHOR BAHRU:
Menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi has instructed the state’s immigration department to halt upgrading works involving the closure of several customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) counters at the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) here.

In a Facebook post today, he said such works should be postponed until the year-end school holidays are over.

“I have asked for such works to be halted until the year-end school holidays are over,” he said.

Two days ago, the BSI immigration corporate communications unit said on Facebook that several entry and exit bus counters in the building will be closed to upgrade signboards in phases from tomorrow until Jan 15.

Onn Hafiz’s order followed the criticisms against authorities at the CIQ complex after its Dec 6 blackout, which saw traffic grind to a halt on the Causeway link for hours.

Initially intended to be a short scheduled electricity supply cut by Tenaga Nasional Bhd for maintenance works, the situation turned ugly as the blackout prolonged, causing massive congestion and forcing immigration officers to conduct their processes manually.

The affected areas were the CIQ complex and Johor Bahru Sentral.

Onn Hafiz panned TNB and called the entire episode “embarrassing”, saying that it had “greatly inconvenienced commuters”.

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