A MAJOR extension to the Lowu immigration terminal would be completed in 1995, said the Secretary for Security, Alistair Asprey.

There would be an extra 72 immigration counters, an increase of 82 per cent, he said.

To speed up clearance times, extra staff would be provided for duty at Lowu later this year by redeploying staff as the screening of Vietnamese migrants was completed.

Mr Asprey said the Lowu crossing was under increasing pressure, averaging nearly 9,000 people an hour.