Land VTL to benefit 1,440 people

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The land Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Johor and Singapore which is set to open on Nov 29 will benefit some 1,440 travellers in its first week of implementation, says Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad.He said the state government was prepared for the land VTL and was looking forward to starting it.

“Based on our capacity and early preparation for the land VTL, we expect to see the movement of some 1,440 people in the first week of its implementation.

“What’s being discussed now is whether these travellers will have to use public transportation or be allowed to use private vehicles. Either way, in Johor, we are prepared.

“We have also sent our suggestions for the standard operating procedure (SOP),” he said.

He added that previously, the state had developed a system called Johor Travel Safe during the implementation of the Periodic Commuting Arrangement and Reciprocal Green Lane.

Hasni said this in response to questions from Jimmy Puah (PH-Bukit Batu), Dr S. Ramakrishnan (PH-Bekok), Andrew Chen (PH-Stulang), Liow Cai Tung (PH-Johor Jaya), Yeo Tung Siong (PH-Pekan Nanas) and Dzulkefly Ahmad (PH-Kota Iskandar) on the reopening of the Johor-Singapore border, during the state assembly sitting yesterday.The Mentri Besar also said the number of people allowed to use the land VTL on a weekly basis would be increased gradually, based on the success of the initial implementation of the travel lane.

“We will look at the success and smoothness of the initial execution of the land VTL before increasing its capacity.

“We expect to up it to 2,500 and later to 5,000 a week,” he said, adding that a pilot test on the land VTL between Johor and Singapore would be conducted today.

On the groups of people who could benefit from the land VTL, Hasni said the state government was urging the Federal Government to allow the same wide category of travellers as in the air VTL between the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Changi Airport, to also be allowed to travel via the land VTL here.

“Both the air and land VTL are expected to take effect on Nov 29 and we hope there will not be any changes to the date,” Hasni said.Last Thursday, Transport Minis-ter Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said fully vaccinated travellers from Singapore would be able to travel to Malaysia under the VTL by air beginning Nov 29 without undergoing quarantine upon arrival.

He added that this also applied to air travellers from Malaysia entering Singapore.