KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has allocated about RM900mil (2021-2022) to meet the needs of the Immigration Department and modernise the country's immigration system.

       Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the move was to ensure the country's immigration system was more comprehensive, modern, integrated and customer-friendly.

       He said the budget was approved for the implementation of 61 physical and non-physical projects.

       "The projects are in line with the latest technological developments such as the internet of things, big data analytics and artificial intelligence so that we stay relevant in service delivery and our sovereignty and national security are preserved," he said.

       He said this when officiating the contract handover ceremony for the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) project, here on Tuesday (June 21).

       Among the projects are the construction of a new Immigration, Customs and Quarantine Complex, upgrading the country's entry points, implementation of the automated clearance system and bidirectional counters such as at the Sultan Iskandar Building in Johor.

       He said the Home Ministry would not hesitate to take stern action against any contractor or party who fails to deliver the task entrusted to them as the project status and development would always be closely monitored.

       "To ensure NIISe runs smoothly, the government has appointed a third party to help regulate, monitor, evaluate, test and audit the projects throughout the software development life cycle to ensure the system being developed meets the department's specifications and requirements and is of high quality" he said.

       He said the need to appoint an independent third party was critical in minimising failures in the development of a complex, high-impact and costly system.

       Mimos Bhd has been appointed as the independent project management consultant and Mimos Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd as the independent verification and validation (IV&V) team for the system development and to audit the equipment supplied.

       The NIISe project to replace the 20-year-old Malaysian Immigration System (myIMMs) is expected to be fully operational by 2024. – Bernama