123,400 MALAYSIANS USE M-BIKE SYSTEM

Reduces Immigration clearance time and identifies those with records of offences, says DPM

ATOTAL of 123,422 Malaysians have registered for the Secured Automated Clearance System for Malaysian Citizen Motorcyclists (M-BIKE) at the two Malaysia-Singapore land entry points here.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said an average of 77,000 people used the M-BIKE system at the Causeway and Second Link daily since it was introduced last November.

The system became fully operational on Feb 20 this year.

Zahid was speaking after visiting the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex here yesterday.

He said the M-BIKE system reduced Immigration clearance time to less than a minute for each Malaysian motorcyclist and helped to identify those in the Suspect List of offences or with invalid travel documents.

In the first five months of this year, 7,420 Malaysians in the suspect list of offences or were holding invalid travel documents were flagged by the M-BIKE system at the two entry points.

“Offences include those with outstanding debts with the National Higher Education Fund Corporation, insolvency issues and others.

“This shows that the system not only reduces congestion, but could also trace people with records of offences. This is good for security,” Zahid said.

He said his visit to the CIQ was to check on the system’s efficiency as he wanted it to be running at “100 per cent with zero defects”.

He, however, admitted that congestion remained an issue, especially among motorcyclists who plied the Malaysia-Singapore border daily.

He said the Immigration Department had taken measures to address this issue, and provided manual lanes and additional staff during peak hours from 3am to 9am and from 5pm to 9pm.