4 September 2022
The immigration department has collected RM3.5 billion in revenue as of Aug 30 compared with RM2.5 billion for the first eight months last year, its director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said.
He said the increase was due to the re-opening of the country’s borders on April 1.
“The bulk of the collection came from the foreign worker levy, with the entry of 1.35 million migrant workers into the country, followed by the issuance and renewal of international Malaysian passports, and compound fines imposed on those who violated immigration rules.
“The border reopening has allowed the department to meet its collection target much earlier than expected.
“As we have collected this much until August, the collection in the coming months (September to December) will be a bonus.
“With this relatively good performance, I hope the finance ministry will consider giving our staff a little bonus,” he told a press conference after the 2022 Immigration Run here today.
Khairul did not rule out the possibility that the department would be able to collect RM4 billion by the end of this year with the recent introduction of the Premium Visa Programme (PVIP).
The PVIP was launched by home minister Hamzah Zainudin last Thursday. It is aimed at attracting global tycoons to invest and reside in this country for a period of 20 years. The immigration department will start accepting PVIP applications from Oct 1.
In another development, Khairul said the department would cooperate fully with the investigation committee established on Aug 7 to probe the incident involving a high-ranking government official and an immigration officer at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
So far, he said, his officers at KLIA have given their statements and additional information to the committee chaired by Attorney-General Idrus Harun over the incident reported to have occurred on Aug 3.
On Aug 3, an immigration officer, who was on duty as KLIA operations head, was reportedly berated in public because there was no immigration officer stationed at the VIP room counter when the government official arrived at the room.
Following the incident, the Cabinet directed Chief Secretary Zuki Ali to set up an internal committee to investigate the matter, which involves public services department director-general Shafiq Abdullah.
Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com
Site Search
Did you find what you are looking for? Try out the enhanced Google Search: