THE Home Ministry has requested that the government reconsider its plan to reduce the number of civil servants in Johor.

Deputy Minister Azis Jamman said the state has a shortage of civil servants, including in the Immigration Department.

He raised the matter in the Dewan Rakyat this morning, when answering a question by Wong Shu Qi (Kluang-PH) on whether Putrajaya plans to increase the number of KP19- and KP22-grade officers at the Sultan Abu Bakar and Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complexes in Johor.

Wong said there are complaints about operations at the CIQs, including not all counters being open during peak hours.

“Officers are not allowed to take time off during busy periods, like festive seasons. So, they have to clear their leave during non-festive seasons.

“But this has caused problems during peak hours on normal days. Does the government have a plan to resolve the issue of insufficient manpower to have all counters open during such times?”

Azis said the Home Ministry, including Minister Muhyiddin Yassin himself, has visited the complexes, and discussions have been held to tackle the congestion issue.

He noted the government directive on reducing the number of civil servants.

“The ministry, too, hopes that we can optimise the number of civil servants in the restructuring, but we hope the government will reconsider.

“We do have a problem. We already lack civil servants in Johor, and are still being told to cut down.

“When the UTC (urban transformation centre) opened, there were no additional staff sent. We were told to make do with the existing manpower.”

He said the ministry is in talks with the Johor government to address the problem.

The Johor CIQs’ congestion woes have led to a drop in tourist arrivals from Singapore, and this has been acknowledged by the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.

It was reported that the hours-long wait to clear immigration has discouraged visitors from the other side of the Causeway.

Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik last week said tourist arrivals from Singapore fell almost two million last year, and cited congestion at the Johor Baru checkpoint as a reason.

Last year, 10.2 million arrivals were recorded at the border crossing, compared with 2017’s 12 million. The drop led to Malaysia failing to meet its tourist-arrival target for 2018. – April 8, 2019.