Ministry to resolve gridlock at Singapore crossings
JOHOR BARU: The Federal Government is committed to resolving the traffic congestion at both land crossings with Singapore, including coming up with a short-term plan within three months.
Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the gridlock at both the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex (CIQ) here and at the Second Link had been going on since his time as mentri besar.
“We need to find ways to resolve these issues in the short, medium and long term as these crossings are important for tourism and import-export businesses,” he said after touring Bangunan Sultan Iskandar CIQ complex here yesterday.
The state government, he added, had formed a task force to come up with a report which would be presented to the Cabinet.
Muhyiddin, who is the Pagoh MP and Gambir assemblyman, also asked for all the suppliers of machines, such as autogates and Mbike systems, to ensure any faulty machines are repaired promptly.
Each year, about 102 million commuters go through both the checkpoints.
Among the major issues at the checkpoints are structures that cause bottlenecks, insufficient counters to match the Singapore side, a lack of Customs scanners, and motorists who leave their lanes to reload Touch ’n Go cards.
On a different issue, Muhyiddin said there would be no political victimisation against Umno, and the party would be investigated just like any other organisation if it was alleged to have flouted its own rules.
“I will leave it to the RoS (Registrar of Societies) to carry out investigations,” he said, in response to remarks made by Umno vice-president and presidential candidate Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday that the new Home Minister would order the RoS to deregister Umno.