KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Immigration Department denies detaining a chief engineer from China for eight hours as reported by a news portal on Saturday (April 16).

       Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud (pic) said, in fact, the process of issuing a Special Pass to the individual could not proceed and was delayed as the latter did not comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and had failed to submit the required documents.

       He said the man failed to prove he had a return flight ticket within a 30-day period, and also did not upload the results of a Covid-19 antigen rapid test kit (RTK) to the MySejahtera application.

       "The Special Pass could not be issued as we had to wait for the man's employer to purchase a return flight ticket and for the screening results to be uploaded to MySejahtera," he said in a statement posted on the department's official Facebook page Sunday (April 17).

       According to Khairul Dzaimee, after a valid return flight ticket had been submitted and the screening results uploaded to MySejahtera, the Special Pass and Check-Out Memo were issued in accordance with the rules and regulations provided.

       Khairul Dzaimee was commenting on a statement from a shipping industry player which deemed the department's action of detaining the Chinese national for eight hours as unprofessional.

       "Members of the public, whether foreigners or locals, are reminded to abide by the rules and regulations in force, and provide all the necessary information and documents before heading to the counter or any Immigration office," he said. - Bernama