SINGAPORE - The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has launched a new Integrated Checkpoints Command (ICC) to further strengthen the coordination among the Home Team agencies.
The new command structure will comprise the land, sea and air domains. It will be implemented in phases, with the land domain starting from Friday. ICA did not give details on when it will be implemented in the other borders.
The new ICC, which will operate under a "unified command and control structure", will achieve greater operational coordination, ICA said in a statement.
It will also provide clearer lines of responsibility and command for the ICA, police and central narcotics bureau officers working together at the checkpoints, the statement said.
Each domain will have its own commander who will be responsible for all Home Team checkpoint operations within the domain. All officers from the various agencies will be reporting to a domain commander, instead of different heads. All three domain commanders will then report to the commissioner of ICA, making ICA the overall authority in charge of border operations.
The ICC land domain, which covers the Tuas and Woodlands checkpoints, will be headed by Assistant Commissioner Ong Choon Beng, 41.
Asst Commissioner Ong has served 16 years with ICA and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), holding various appointments, including Commander of Woodlands Command, Head of the Passport Unit at ICA, and Director of the Office of the Chief Science & Technology Officer (OCSTO) at MHA.
He said: "I believe that the ICC will bring the Home Team agencies at the land checkpoints closer together and create a more robust command and control structure."
Asst Commissioner Alan Koo Weng Yew, 45, will succeed Mr Ong as the new Commander of Woodlands Command. He was formerly the Senior Deputy Commander of Ground Operations at Woodlands Command.
Additional reporting by Lim Yi Han
