Scanner broke down for 171 days in three-year period
AUDIT REPORT The auditor-general has complained that two out of 16 scanners bought by the Royal Customs Department have recorded an unusual number of breakdowns, with the machine at North Port in Port Klang recording 171 days when it was not functioning, although the machine is three years old; and its West Port scanner being faulty during 86 days within 10 years.
AUDIT REPORT The auditor-general has complained that two out of 16 scanners bought by the Royal Customs Department have recorded an unusual number of breakdowns, with the machine at North Port in Port Klang recording 171 days when it was not functioning, although the machine is three years old; and its West Port scanner being faulty during 86 days within 10 years.
To make things worse, the report states that 31 percent of Customs officers admitted they are not proficient in handling the scanners, and 81 percent of the staff admitted they have no experience in troubleshooting the machines.
“This will impact the estimation of duty and release of the items from the two ports and would affect the department’s revenue,” the report states.
With the exception of the two machines in Port Klang, the auditor-general found the faults of other scanners as manageable.
The auditor-general opined that the usage of scanners, at 90 percent per year (328 days per year), is good.
“Hence, the faultiness of such machines at 10 percent per year is acceptable. However, at these two places, periods of 11.8 percent and 15.6 percent recorded when the scanner machine was faulty is unacceptable as both are 10 years old and three years old respectively.
“This will affect the effectiveness of the Customs Department,” the report stated.
The auditor-general found that the terms of maintenance of the scanners are insufficient, as they do not include prevention of breakdowns and the detailed maintenance costs are not provided in the job scope.
The machines are used to scan incoming and outgoing cargo from the various entry points nationwide.
The Finance Ministry had allocated RM102.7 million to purchase scanners between 2010 and 2013. However, as of December 2013, a total of RM69 million had been spent on the purchase of such machines.
Presently, the 16 scanners are placed at the Sultan Iskandar Complex Customs, Immigration and Quarantine checkpoint in Johor Baru (four), Tanjung Kupang (one), Pasir Gudang Port (one), Tanjung Pelepas (one), North Port, Port Klang (two), Westport, Port Klang (two), Padang Besar (one), Bagan Dalam Port (one), North Butterworth Container Terminal (one), Senari Port, Kuching, (one) and Sepanggar Port, Kota Kinabalu (one).
On overcoming the frequent defects, the department had consulted the company supplying the machines and had identified the case as due to upgrading of the software image analysis.
Besides this, the company has replace the optical character recognition, provided training to Customs officers to troubleshoot the equipment and repaired minor defects, and also had a technician to be placed on stand-by for 24 hours to handle any problems.
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