Driving to Singapore to cost more

JOHOR BARU: Frequent car trips into and out of Singapore will cost more from Friday as the Govern­ment has announced higher toll rates for vehicles entering or exiting the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Qua­rantine (CIQ) Complex.

Currently, only motorists entering Malaysia need to pay toll at the CIQ.

“Toll will be collected for all outbound and inbound vehicles which pass the CIQ,” said Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) director-general Datuk Ismail Mohd Salleh in a statement (see gra­phic).

Motorcycles are the only class of vehicle exempted from toll.

No reason was given for the increase, other than MHA stating that the revised rates were “appropriate” given the facilities and services enjoyed by users of the 8.1km Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL), a partially elevated expressway that links the CIQ to the Pandan Interchange (with several interchanges in between), where it connects to the North South Expressway.

It could not be ascertained how many vehicles that pass through the CIQ are actually headed to­­wards or from the NSE as MHA did not provide any figures.

When contacted, state Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman Datuk Hasni Mohammad said PLUS Bhd had applied to have the toll at the CIQ increased for some time.

“The increase is in view of future plans, which include the widening of the Sedenak-Skudai road from four lanes to six lanes,” he said.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the increase was appropriate as it would allow authorities to control the increa­sing number of vehicles entering Johor.

“The increase will not have an adverse effect on the state’s eco­nomy,” he said.

Khaled said the toll hike was not related to the proposed entry fee for foreign-registered vehicles into Johor.

“The (CIQ) toll is for all users,” he said after handing out Hari Raya goodies to the less fortunate in Pasir Gudang here yesterday.

Johoreans who drive into Singa­pore daily for work are the ones expected to be the most hard hit by the toll hike.