Johor govt to hold coordination meeting to address congestion at checkpoints

Johor works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh (front) and state investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han (left) visiting the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link marine viaduct at Stulang Laut here in Johor Baru on Tuesday (April 4). — THOMAS YONG/The Star

JOHOR BARU: A coordination meeting involving various agencies will be called up soon to find ways to ease congestion at both Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) buildings in Johor ahead of Hari Raya.

State works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said authorities were expecting a high volume of vehicles between Malaysia and Singapore through the Sultan Iskandar Building's CIQ Complex (BSI) and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB).

"It is a norm each time during any festive season – as well as elections – to see a massive spike in the number of people going through land checkpoints in Johor.

"The state government will hold a coordination meeting with various agencies, including the Immigration Department.

"We will discuss having more buses, opening special lanes, ensuring all counters open as well as increasing the number of security personnel on the ground to ease the travelling process during Hari Raya Aidilfitri," he said during a press conference after visiting the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link marine viaduct at Stulang Laut here on Tuesday (April 4) evening.

Meanwhile, on the RTS progress, Mohamad Fazli said the project had surpassed the 32% mark including its various components such as depots, stations and the land and marine track lines.

"The infrastructure project for the RTS Link is expected to be completed by December 2024 and will begin operation two years later.

"So far it is up to schedule and the development of this project is being closely monitored by the Transport Ministry.

"To help ease the RTS Link project, we set up a task force on Oct 21, 2020, to help facilitate any matters related to the state government, such as land issues," he said, adding that the secretariat for the task force team was the Town and Country Planning Department.

Once the 4km-long RTS Link is completed, passengers will be able to travel from the Bukit Chagar station in Johor Baru to the Woodlands North station in Singapore, and vice versa, in about five minutes. The train service can serve up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.