KUALA LUMPUR - FORMER prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has said that traffic congestion at the new immigration checkpoint in Johor Baru could have been alleviated if a bridge project which he had proposed was built.

He said the proposed elevated bridge, which was to replace the Causeway, would channel vehicles from Singapore directly to the customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) complex.

His view was supported by his son, MP Mukhriz Mahathir.

Their remarks were made amid complaints by motorists of a traffic bottleneck at the Sultan Iskandar CIQ complex, which became fully operational from Tuesday. The old immigration checkpoints at the end of the Causeway had been closed.

One complaint was that vehicles from Singapore were squeezed from four lanes into two at the CIQ building.

Dr Mahathir wrote in his blog that 'the idea of a bridge to replace the Causeway, connected to the CIQ building by an elevated highway was in order to avoid the traffic congestion.

'Replacing the elevated highway with a road at ground level must cause a clash between traffic' from Singapore and vehicles travelling between east and west in Johor Baru, he said.

'The problem can only get worse...But we must endure these jams because we must not annoy our neighbour,' he added.

He was alluding to Singapore, which sees no reason to demolish the Causeway, and says it is prepared to agree to the bridge plan if a balance of benefits can be struck for both sides.

Dr Mahathir had insisted that he would build the elevated bridge on just Malaysia's side of the border, with the S-shaped half-bridge widely called the 'crooked bridge'.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi dropped the plan in April 2006, but the new CIQ project was continued as works had started.

Datuk Mukhriz on Tuesday said he agreed with some politicians and people in Johor who wanted the project revived, Bernama reported.