MIRI: Travellers to Miri City from Brunei have dropped from Jan to March this year compared to the same period last year.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Assistant Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin revealed this after chairing the Miri Tourism Task Force meeting at the Miri Resident’s office here yesterday afternoon.
He said the Customs and Excise and Immigration posts at Sungai Tujoh in Kuala Baram recorded 783,229 travellers from Brunei in March this year compared to 3,600,021 travellers in March last year.
Lee added that from January to March this year, 53, 361 vehicles were recorded entering Miri and 62, 954 departing the city.
For the same corresponding period last year, 219,776 vehicles were recorded entering Miri and 171, 581 departing the city.
Lee pointed out that the numbers of travellers and vehicles had dropped in the first three months of this year because of the long queues at the immigration post at the Miri/Brunei border.
He urged the Immigration Department to find an efficient solution to resolve the issue immediately.
“Perhaps we can emulate Brunei’s immigration system to speed up the flow at the immigration check point,” he suggested.
Lee also suggested more counters at the immigration checkpoint and that the department increase its staff.
Lee added travellers had been complaining about the long queues at the immigration checkpoint.
Also present at the meeting were Miri Resident Julaihi Mastapa and representatives of various government agencies including the Fire Rescue and Services Department (Bomba) and Miri police.
