This means that all vehicles travelling to and from Singapore will have to use the new complex housed at Sultan Iskandar Complex in Bukit Chagar to get their passports stamped and Customs checks.

Johor Baharu South Police Chief ACP Zainuddin Yaakob said operations at CIQ will begin from 12.01am on Tuesday.

In addition, all vehicles coming from Singapore must use the Touch & Go cards to pay toll as they enter Malaysia. The Causeway checkpoint previously allowed toll payments to be done with cash and Touch & Go cards.

The immigration counter at Jalan Tun Razak will be closed at 11.45pm on Monday to facilitate these changes. Mr Zainuddin said that 'traffic heading to Singapore should not use the path'.

He urged all traffic flowing towards Singapore to use Jalan Saw Mill (behind Sentral Police Station) in the city to Jalan Pantai Lido and Jalan Wong Ah Fook before entering Jalan Lingkaran Dalam to reach the Sultan Iskandar complex.

He added that traffic police would be stationed at strategic points to ease traffic flow and provide directions to motorist.

However, all lorries would maintain the existing route from Tanjung Puteri to Johor Causeway route to enter and exit Singapore, he said.

After midnight, all vehicles should head directly to the Sultan Iskander CIQ complex via Jalan Lingkaran Dalam.

The old Immigration checkpoint at the Causeway will be demolished after authorities are satisfied with the smooth flow of traffic at the new complex.

Engineer Darryl Chong, 32, who works in Singapore and has used the new complex, expressed concern over the roads which he felt were 'very narrow for big vehicles'.

The RM1.3 billion (S$540 million) new building has 76 lanes for cars and 100 for motorcycles. -- The Star/ANN, BERNAMA