Tens of thousands of travellers affected after autogates went down at BSI

JOHOR BARU: Tens of thousands of people have been stuck at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs Immigration and Quarantine Complex (BSI CIQ) for several hours following a major technical glitch that has knocked out all the immigration autogates.

It is learnt that at least 42 autogates at the entry and exit areas of the bus halls at BSI had been down since 12.30pm yesterday, forcing people to clear immigration manually.

“Even the autogates at the KTM train station were knocked off-line,” a security official said, adding that efforts were being made to restore the system in stages.

“This has never happened before at the JB CIQ, and it comes at the worst time, especially on a Sunday with a huge number of people, including Singaporeans, coming in for the long school holidays.

“Some of them have been stuck for hours due to the long lines at the bus arrival and exit halls,” the official said, adding they were trying their best to control the huge crowd.

“We were also informed that immigration has redeployed its manpower to all the manual counters to help clear the crowd,” the official added.

Immigration has also activated contra lanes to divert travellers at the entry and exit bus halls.

However, the glitch has not affected immigration clearance for cars, motorcycles and heavy vehicles.

Other government agencies are also functioning without any issues.

The official said it was time for BSI management to have a proper backup system to address such issues, as it is bad if all the autogates fail at the same time, causing chaos at the checkpoint.

Asked if there were any elements of sabotage, the official said detailed investigations would be done soon.

“The priority is for the autogates to be up and running,” the official said.

He added that additional security personnel have also been deployed to assist and maintain order at the major land checkpoint with Singapore.

The public took to social media to express their frustration.

A traveller, known only as Miss Chan, said she was stuck in her factory bus for more than an hour due to the massive jams.

“Usually by 7pm, I am in my factory in Pasir Ris in Singapore from my home in Johor Jaya, but this time, I am still stuck in the bus and traffic is very bad,” she said.

Chan said she was unsure what time she would be able to reach her workplace.

She said she had never experienced such a major glitch despite working in Singapore for many years.

As at press time, some of the autogates have started to function.