M’sia, S’pore to discuss single inspection centre
> Ahmad Zahid to meet city-state DPM on facility to alleviate congestion at causeway
SEGAMAT: Malaysia and Singapore will discuss a proposal to introduce a single Customs and Immigration inspection centre at the Johor Causeway, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“(Singapore) must form an action body as done by Malaysia. I will meet Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean to discuss the matter in detail,” he said in Tenang yesterday after launching a project to rebuild the Yong Peng-Segamat road.
Also present were Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin, Deputy Works Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin and Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Chua Tee Yong, who is also MP for Labis.
On Saturday, it was reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs in Singapore had rejected the proposal.
Ahmad Zahid said if the proposal could be implemented, the single checkpoint would play an important role in facilitating smooth flow of traffic and overcome the problem of congestion at the causeway, Bernama reported.
He said Malaysia would respect the security concerns raised by Singapore, and expressed optimism on progress of the proposal.
“We know there is a bottleneck at the Johor causeway and I have discussed it with the Johor mentri besar as well as the federal government to address the issue together.”
Ahmad Zahid said he chaired the action body and RM100 million would be spent to upgrade the causeway to overcome the bottleneck.
“We have agreed in principle that the cost would be shared, with the state government bearing 50% while the balance would be borne by the federal government,” he added.