MIRI: The Road Transport Department (RTD) is proposing the introduction of vehicle entry permit (VEP) charges on all foreign vehicles at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complexes near Malaysia-Brunei border.
Its director-general, Datuk Seri Shaharuddin Khalid said the proposal paper would be submitted to the Transport Minister (Anthony Loke Siew Fook) this year with the main objective to ease monitoring of foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia, especially involving the issue of traffic summonses.
"We hope the VEP requirement can be implemented at the locations early next year,” he said, adding that the system had already been implemented in Johor.
Shaharuddin said drivers applying for the VEP would be charged a (one-off) registration fee of RM10 for the permit processing.
He said the four CIQ complexes along the Malaysia-Brunei border were all located in Sarawak, namely the Sungai Tujuh-Kuala Belait (Miri), Tedungan-Kuala Lurah (Limbang), Pandaruan-Labu (Limbang) and Mengkalap-Ujung Jalan (Lawas).
On another development, he said RTD would place its personnel at the Ba'Kelalan CIQ complex in Lawas, at the Malaysia-Indonesia border beginning May 1, 2019 due to the increasing flow of visitors from both countries.
"In 2017, there were 16,790 visitors entering the country and 17,427 exiting and last year, the numbers increased to 19,613 and 19,466 respectively,” he added.
Shaharuddin also announced the implementation of the Special Integrated Operations in Sarawak involving integrating operations at the state’s RTD branch offices to maintain the department’s integrity.
"For instance, the enforcement operations in Miri will be conducted by a team from the Bintulu or Lawas branch office, while the operations in the rest of the locations will be carried out by teams from other RTD branch offices,” he said. -- Bernama