We refer to Mr Tan Jeh Yaw’s letter “Congestion at checkpoints can diminish benefits from proposed Iskandar SEZ” (Jan 10).

Our land checkpoints are one of the busiest land crossings in the world, with about 400,000 travellers using both Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints daily. This figure goes up to 440,000 during school and public holidays.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) adopts a multi-pronged approach to alleviate traffic congestion and continuously reviews checkpoint operations to enhance the efficiency of immigration clearance processes and traveller experience at the checkpoints.

ICA monitors traffic conditions in real time and dynamically adjusts the deployment of officers to manage the traffic situation. Clearance lanes are also converted flexibly for different modes of conveyance in response to traffic conditions. For example, car zones can be converted to clear motorcycles during peak periods. This mitigates the risk of the motorcycle queues ballooning along the Causeway/Second Link and Bukit Timah Expressway/Ayer Rajah Expressway and blocking other vehicles from entering the checkpoints.

ICA has also adopted innovative solutions to automate immigration clearance for travellers. In recent years, we installed 90 more automated lanes at the bus hall, and automated clearance is the default for bus travellers today. This allows us to redeploy officers for car clearance.

From early 2024, ICA will progressively roll out contactless clearance for all modes of travel. These solutions leverage technology, which help to increase clearance throughput and significantly reduce the reliance on manpower for immigration clearance.

Woodlands Checkpoint is scheduled to be redeveloped, and this will allow us to further increase our clearance capacity and throughput, reducing travel time from 60 minutes to 15 minutes during peak periods. 

We hope travellers can understand that ICA’s finite number of officers are already maximally deployed across various parts of the checkpoints when on duty. ICA also has to ensure that security at both land checkpoints is maintained with the large volume of travellers crossing the borders daily.

Patrick Ong
Head, Strategic Communications and Media Relations
Corporate Communications and Service Division
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority