| James Kon |
A TASKFORCE has been established earlier this year by the Immigration and National Registration Department to come up with an action plan to raise the department’s customer service standards.
During the launch of the new ‘Smart Q’ pilot project system yesterday, Salminan bin Haji Burut, Director of Immigration and National Registration shared some of the initiatives that have been, and will be, implemented.
Besides the launching of the new system, which allows the public to plan and book appointment slots for identification card-related services at the department, the department had also introduced a similar pilot project system for booking appointment slots for the application of travel documents on March 7 this year.
“Based on a survey carried out by the department, customers who have used the early booking service have given the system their thumbs up, saying that it has helped in reducing the waiting time when applying for their passport,” Salminan said of the travel document application booking system.
Another initiative, he said, “is the opening of additional counters for passport applications, especially during school holidays, when there are more people queuing up for passport-related applications.”
He also added that “the department has also recently issued reminders through SMS to passport holders, reminding them to renew their passports before expiry, to avoid problems when travelling overseas due to the passports being less than six months before expiring”.
Another initiative was placing the department’s officers and staff at the counters of the Labour Department to receive applications for employment visas.
“This is to convenience members of the public who are applying to bring in foreign workers, by housing all related document service counters under one roof,” the director explained.
In a further bid to improve the department’s services, Salminan added, “To gather information and recommendations from the public, suggestions boxes have been placed at the headquarters of the Immigration and National Registration Department and its branches in the four districts.
“Members of the public can also get the latest information about the department and lodge complaints through the department’s official website and social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram. All the recommendations, comments and complaints will become reference materials for the department when reviewing its policies and guidelines to further improve its efficiency and effectiveness.”
The director also revealed that with the cooperation of DST, the Immigration and National Registration Department has sent 14 of its frontline staff to participate in a customer service training hosted by DST as a measure to raise the department’s customer service quality.
He also announced that on August 7, the Immigration and National Registration Department – with cooperation from the management service department – will conduct a survey to obtain feedback from the public on the department’s environment and facilities, their interaction with officers and staff, as well as their impressions of the department’s personnel while on duty.
The launch of the first-of-its-kind ‘Smart Q’ project was officiated by Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, the Minister of Home Affairs.
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