A TASK force has been formed to evaluate the decrepit 28 year-old immigration, customs, quarantine and security (ICQS) border crossing at Tebedu in Sarawak.

Chaired jointly by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg, the task force would have to decide to either upgrade the complex to be on par with what the Indonesians have on the opposite side of the border at Entikong, or build a new complex.

The costs would be split equally between the state and federal governments.

Zahid, who is also home minister, said a technical committee chaired by his deputy, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, had been ordered to meet in 14 days to undertake the technical evaluation of the proposal and they have another 14 days to submit their findings to the task force.

The task force would then submit the proposal to the economic council chaired by Prime Minister Najib Razak for further input and discussions before it is submitted to the cabinet for endorsement.

“It’s either to upgrade or build a totally new complex with all the modern amenities,” Zahid said in his media conference after a briefing and tour of the ICQS, some 110km from Kuching.

The tour was a follow up on the decision taken by Najib and his Indonesian counterpart President Joko Widodo at their November 22 round table talk in Kuching to reopen Tededu and Entikong to cross border trade under a new cross border agreement.

Zahid said the Tebedu ICQS should at least be on par with the Indonesians’ brand new crossing at Entikong.

In a media statement, the deputy prime minister stated that based on early reports, there was a need to build a new complex, have more car lanes to improve traffic flow and improved security screening facilities.

He said more quarters needed to be built for staff stationed at the ICQS while the existing quarters needed to be refurbished. – December 28, 2017.