THE Penang Lands and Mines Office has reimplemented the online booking system for legal firms to book their slots online.
This will eliminate ‘paper queues’ in front of the state administrative complex on Level Three, Komtar.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the ‘runners’ no longer need to come to Komtar and physically queue early in the morning.
“The legal firms can make the bookings online, where they will be given time slots to do their transactions here at the Penang Lands and Mines Office.
“The system was reimplemented yesterday (April 5).
In the past, the ‘runners’ who were appointed by their legal firms would place scraps of papers on the wee hours of the morning to reserve spots in the queue.
The online booking system was first implemented for about two weeks in March.
Chow hoped that the legal firms and Bar Committee would cooperate with the Penang Lands and Mines Office to make the effort a success.
“The slots for the entire month of April have been given out.
“The respective legal firms should know their time slots and ask their runners to go to the Penang Lands and Mines Office to do their transactions,” Chow said.
Meanwhile, the Penang Lands and Mines Office director Datuk Zulkifli Long said that the general public do not need to use the online booking system.
“The online system is for the legal firms. The general public can just go to our counters,” he said today.
Zulkifli said all 516 slots from April 5 to 30 had been taken up by the legal firms.
Penang Lands and Mines Office deputy director Syazmin Baharom Shah said the Office would inform the Penang Bar Committee whenever there are slots available, and the Committee would then inform the legal offices.
“The legal offices can also check out our website and Facebook page for more details,” he said.
Chow had earlier visited the Penang Lands and Mines Office to check out its smooth operations.
Accompanying him were Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng, Zulkifli and Syazmin.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Alissala Thian