Singaporeans given access to automatic clearance system

22 September 2009 , By New Straits Times

JOHOR BARU: All Singaporeans can now make use of the Malaysia Automatic Clearance System (MACS) at the Causeway, a privilege originally intended to speed up Immigration clearance for foreign investors in Iskandar Malaysia.

Those who register for the service at a cost of RM30 a year can clear Immigration in a matter of seconds.

Users will receive a sticker in their passports which is scanned upon entry and departure.

Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam said all the 212 Immigration counters at the new Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex in the Sultan Iskandar building were equipped with the MACS.

"We hope the MACS will help to alleviate the problem of slow-traffic movement from Woodlands in Singapore to the complex," he said after giving goodie boxes to Immigration officers on duty at the Sultan Iskandar building on the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

He pointed out that the traffic movement to the complex from Singapore often slows to a snail's pace because of the poor road structure, vehicle breakdowns and the congestion at the Immigration counters.

This has been brought to the attention of the state legislative assembly.

Mahmood said about 280,000 people a day entered the country through the Causeway, and the number exceeded 300,000 during weekends.