SEPANG: More than 380,000 tourists were affected by the recent autogate system glitch caused by connectivity issues between the MyIMMS system and the international security system it is linked to.

Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (MCBA) director-general Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the figure only referred to the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) in Johor.

However, Shuhaily did not disclose the number of affected travellers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminals 1 and 2, or at the CIQ Complex at Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB).

He said there were about 200,000 inbound and outbound tourists at BSI on July 18, and about 180,000 yesterday.

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"We deeply regret what has happened.

"What occurred was not a breakdown of the MyIMMS system, which is supposed to be integrated with an international security system, but rather a connectivity issue. This caused delays in the screening process and resulted in long queues of visitors.

"I was informed that records show about 380,000 visitors were affected by this.

"On behalf of the MCBA and the Immigration Department, we apologise for what has happened, and we will do our best to ensure this does not happen again," he said at a press conference today.

He assured that the agency is working hard to prevent a recurrence.

Addressing the issue over the past two days, Shuhaily said all available personnel were deployed yesterday to facilitate the entry of travellers into the country amid the autogate failure.

"I want to stress that no Malaysian citizens were involved in the delays, only foreigners entering or leaving Malaysia were affected.

"Yesterday was a public holiday, and as everyone knows, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are peak periods, especially when foreign workers in Singapore would travel to Johor to shop or spend time there, that's why the crowd was so large yesterday.

"As we speak now, the autogates are already up and running," he said.

As of 10pm yesterday, 68 autogates at BSI were already operational, while four were functioning at KSAB.

At KLIA, 36 autogates are fully operational.

He added that one of the measures they have taken, and will continue to take in the event of a recurrence, is to inform travellers of any autogate issues in advance so they can plan their journeys accordingly or postpone their trips to another day.

Yesterday, MCBA, in a statement, had said it has taken immediate measures to address the congestion at the country's main entry points since yesterday.

All manual counters have been fully activated, and additional personnel have been deployed to manage the flow of visitors and control the queues as efficiently as possible.

This follows a technical disruption affecting the autogate system used by foreign visitors at the country's main entry points, which has led to congestion and long queues.

Following that, the agency said the autogates have gradually resumed operations beginning 6pm yesterday.