However, the Malaysian travellers are still using the FTC as the Malaysian authorities are yet to upgrade their system.
Locals have stopped the use of FTC following the abolishment of the need to stamp Bruneian biometric and standard passports when passing through Brunei control posts, according to Acting Assistant Director of Immigration and National Registration, Amir Ringgit.
As time goes by with technological advancements, our border control post system is also being upgraded and hence, we have omitted the stamping of local passports altogether," he said, highlighting that the FTC does not serve its purpose for Bruneians anymore.
However, he clarified that the introduction of the new biometric passport was not the reason locals are not currently using the FTC.
Amir said that due to the recent e-government project, all border control post systems in the Sultanate have been upgraded to a more uniform system.
"We used to have two systems at our border control posts. However with technological advancements, we now have one uniform system which scans both local biometric and standard passports when travellers cross-over," he said.
He added: "(Due to the impact) of technological advancements, we have to find other alternatives and that is why we came up with a uniform system."
The acting assistant director said that although there were some initial technical difficulties with FTC, they resolved the problems prior to its launching in 2007.
In the period between the introduction of the new border control system, both locals and Malaysians have been using the FTC.
However with the new "stampless" system in place, locals have switched to using their passports to cross the borders.
He added: "The main purpose of FTC was to serve both sides (Bruneians and Malaysians) to facilitate their movements and to benefit frequent travellers between the two countries."
Although Bruneians are now using their passports to travel across the borders instead of using the FTC, Amir said that another discussion will be held, where relevant authorities of both countries will discuss further areas of cooperation in the FTC partnership.
"We just had a meeting last week to discuss what could he done to continue our partnership, and we also proposed that perhaps both sides use passports as an alternative to cross over the borders," he said.
The FTC was introduced in 2007 and aimed at facilitating travellers who frequently pass through the two countries. Without the FTC or the stampless system, travellers would have numerous stamps in their passports when crossing over the borders, and thus, filling the pages of the passport after a number of trips.
The FTC facilitated and automated immigration clearance for Malaysia and Brunei citizens without compromising security standards of both countries.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Rachel Thien and Ubai Masli
Quelle/Source: Brunei Direct, 23.05.2009
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