The Immigration Department has urged Singapore-bound motorcyclists using the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) (Second Link) to behave accordingly and comply with set regulations.

Its director-general Mustafar Ali said the Secured Automated Clearance System for Malaysian Citizen Motorcyclists (M-Bike), which had just been introduced last Wednesday, was still new to the riders and hoped they could exercise patience.

"Why do these users comply with the laws when they're in Singapore but do just the opposite in our country? Over there, they need to switch off their engines and push their motorcycles... in fact, whoever sounds the horn is slapped with a fine.

"We want to educate our society, especially the motorcyclists, to adhere to the laws...M-Bike is one of the ways to protect our sovereignty," he told reporters after conducting a check at KSAB in Gelang Patah today.

Mustafar was commenting on several motorcyclists who rammed and caused damage to eight motorcycle gantries at M-Bike lanes which led to traffic congestion at the BSI complex.

Nevertheless, he admitted there were several areas which needed improvement to ensure operations at the two entry points went smoothly.

"We have checked both the entry points as early as 5am today, and found that there were hiccups in the system which caused the congestion... one of the causes identified is the slow gate opening after they scanned their passports.

"M-Bike is a solution to the problem in the long run, (and) this is what the users need to understand," he said.

Mustafar said the department had contacted the supplier to overcome the problem soon.

He added the Immigration Department had opened 100 M-Bike lanes (50 each on departure and arrival hall) at the BSI complex and 50 lanes (25 each on departure and arrival hall) at KSAB to cater to over 90,000 riders daily.

M-Bike is the latest government initiative to reduce motorcycle lane congestion by 50 percent at the Malaysia-Singapore entry points.

- Bernama