Question:
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs what arrangements are in place for immigration procedures in the event of a power outage at any checkpoint.
Answer:
Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:
1. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has multiple measures to deal with power disruptions at the checkpoints.
2. In the event of a power outage, ICA will activate its business continuity plans to minimise service degradation while keeping our borders secure.
3. Measures include activating backup power sources and uninterruptible power supplies. ICA may also recall off-duty personnel for additional manpower to assist with manual immigration clearance, communicate and advise travellers via various channels to arrive at the checkpoints early or to avoid non-essential travel, and at the air and sea checkpoints, prioritise clearance according to travellers’ departure times.
4. Together with the Home Team Science and Technology Agency, ICA is also piloting immigration clearance via mobile devices as an added measure to manage power-related incidents.
