Five initiatives to be improved to ease Johor Causeway congestion

JOHOR BARU: The Special Committee on Congestion at the Johor Causeway has agreed to improve five existing initiatives to ease causeway congestion, said Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.

He said the initiatives included another 25 Secured AUTOmated Clearance System for Malaysian Citizen Motorcyclists (M-BIKE) counters (on top of the existing 50 M-BIKE counters), a mini command centre and four customs lanes at the Sultan Abu Bakar Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex.

"Apart from that, there will upgrading works on the bus terminal including adding a roof to the bus parking area at Sultan Abu Bakar ICQS Complex; and conducting a feasibility study by taking into account the increase in the number of passengers that exceeds the capacity of both ICQS complexes (Sultan Abu Bakar Complex and Sultan Iskandar Building).

"Also, ongoing announcements and notifications to increase awareness through digital billboards; and the need to examine the use of technology for enforcement by agencies operating on the Johor Causeway,” he said in a statement today.

He said as of yesterday, 13 out of 23 initiatives to address congestion at the Sultan Iskandar Building and Sultan Abu Bakar Complex had been completed while another six were being implemented and four had yet to be implemented.

According to him, as many as 30 projects or 81 per cent of the 37 upgrading projects have been completed and all have been implemented according to the set period, covering short-, medium- and long-term initiatives.

"This committee is a mechanism established to coordinate and monitor all 23 initiatives through five technical working groups. Implementation status reports of all initiatives are submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob periodically,” he said.

Wan Ahmad Dahlan said future planning would take into account the proposed use of the latest toll payment method using the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or MyRFID technology by at least 65,000 vehicles from Singapore registered with the Road Transport Department (JPJ) at the country's entry points.

He said enforcement agencies such as the police, the Immigration Department and JPJ will ensure that motorists adhere to laws and regulations to ensure the smooth flow of traffic at the causeway.

"The implementation of all these initiatives is an integrated effort of all parties involved in the Johor Causeway aimed not only at reducing congestion at the causeway but also to improve the effectiveness of service delivery to the people,” he said.

The meeting chaired by Wan Ahmad Dahlan yesterday at Sultan Iskandar Building ICQS was attended by the Johor government, Works Ministry; Health Ministry; Transport Ministry; Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry; PDRM, Immigration Department; Royal Malaysian Customs Department; RTD and Public Works Department.