Johor wants full reopening of Malaysia-Singapore border to be expedited

JOHOR BARU: Johor wants Putrajaya to speed up the full reopening of Malaysia's border with Singapore, says Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad.

Hasni said he recently met Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to discuss the matter, adding that Muhyiddin had asked Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to look into it.

“Both governments are currently finding positive ways so that we can quickly open up the border between Malaysia and Singapore, ” said Hasni during a speech at the Johor Islamic Religious Council (Maij) zakat handing over ceremony at Holiday Villa Hotel here on Monday (Sept 7).

He added that to date, more than 35,000 locals working across the Causeway have lost their jobs since the pandemic started.

“It has also affected more than 250,000 Malaysians who used to travel daily between the border as the state’s economy depends on the economy of our neighbouring country.

"The border reopening is also important as it contributes 50% of the Customs revenue to the country, ” he said, adding that he hopes the government would announce the good news soon.

On July 26, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and his Singapore counterpart Dr Vivian Balakrishnan met at the halfway mark of Causeway in a symbolic gesture to mark the agreement by both countries to reopen their borders on Aug 17 under the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) and Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA).

The border was closed after Malaysia introduced the movement control order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19 on March 18.

The RGL will enable cross-border travel for essential business and official purposes between Malaysia and Singapore up to a maximum of 400 people a week for stays up to two weeks.

On the other hand, the PCA will allow residents of both countries who hold long-term immigration passes for business and work purposes in the other country to enter that country for work, up to a maximum of 2,000 people a day.