Sunday, Nov 18, 2012
JOHOR BARU - Four high-tech drive through cargo scanners are now in operation at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar in Bukit Chagar.
The scanners, which were installed on Nov 1 and cost RM49.2 million (S$19.6 million), would help to prevent smuggling activities across the Malaysia-Singapore border, said Customs Department director-general Datuk Khazali Ahmad.
He added that the machines would be used to scan the interior of cargo consignments for the lorries which pass through the CIQ complex daily.
Khazali said the scanners would help reduce congestion and inspection time.
"The scanners, which are like X-ray machines, are able to penetrate metal of up to 30cm thick and detect the contents of the cargo.
"They can be used to inspect up to 180 vehicles an hour," he told a press conference after launching the scanners at the CIQ building here yesterday.
Khazali said that previously, enforcement officers would take more than two minutes to manually inspect each heavy vehicle and this had caused an increase in congestion.
"An average of about 2,000 lorries pass through the checkpoint daily, and the scanners will help improve enforcement efforts," he added.
