ISKANDAR PUTERI (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The Johor government is hoping that the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination programme in Malaysia and Singapore will lead to the reopening of the border between the two countries this year, said Johor Tourism, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

He said the state government had made the "necessary preparations" and was ready to receive travellers from Singapore.

"This matter is under the purview of the federal government through the Foreign Ministry and Singaporean Government.

"Discussions are still ongoing involving the safety and security of the people travelling between both countries.

"We hope the vaccination programme carried out by the Malaysian and Singaporean governments will give hope for the reopening of our border this year," he said after visiting the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex at the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB) in Gelang Patah on Monday (March 8).

One of the reasons for his visit to KSAB was to send the message that Johor was ready to welcome all travellers, he said.

"Our immigration and our borders are ready to receive people from abroad.

"There are 29 upgrading projects in KSAB worth RM40 million (S$13.1 million), with the remaining 20 per cent of work still in progress. The projects are expected to be completed by this year," he added.

Among the completed works are the rooftop at the import and export terminal, traffic lights at the inbound and outbound checkpoint booth, traffic control for import and export bay, safety fence around the bay and the guard rail between cars and motorcycles.