Johor mulls over third ferry service to S’pore
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The proposed route is between Puteri Harbour and Tuas, said Johor's chief minister.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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JOHOR BARU – The Johor state government has proposed an additional ferry service to ease travel between the southern Malaysian state and Singapore.
Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi said this was among the matters discussed with ministers from Singapore during his visit to the Republic.
“We proposed a third ferry service between Johor and Singapore. The route we proposed is between Puteri Harbour and Tuas. However, we will need approval from the Transport Ministry first before further talks can be held with Singapore’s Transport Ministry,” he said.
Currently, there are two ferry services operating between Tanah Merah and Desaru Coast
Datuk Onn Hafiz was responding to a question from Pakatan Harapan assemblyman Andrew Chen Kah Eng at the state assembly sitting on Sunday. Mr Chen had asked what was discussed during the Johor state government’s official visit to Singapore in February.
Mr Onn Hafiz also said the Johor government would come up with a mechanism soon to support the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in the state. “Among things that I have discussed with Singapore’s Transport Minister S. Iswaran was the use of EVs, and he shared that by 2030, they will stop the registration of vehicles that run on petrol,” he said.
“We also need to have a plan on this and will work closely with the local governments.
“I will discuss with the state secretary the need to have a mechanism which will involve industries that could support our strategy (on EVs) in years to come.”
During his visit, Mr Onn Hafiz also met Singapore’s Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and four companies that are keen to invest in Johor.
He said resolving the traffic congestion issue between Johor and Singapore remains a top priority for both the state and federal governments.
Mr Onn Hafiz said among the initiatives carried out by the federal government were expanding the use of electronic gates to Singaporeans, increasing the number of motorcycle lanes from 50 to 75 each way, and merging counters of the various agencies at the border.
“We are all aware that this (congestion at the Causeway) is not something that just happened today, as the problem has been there for decades.
“However, this has not broken the spirit of the state and federal governments to work together to resolve the issue,” he said.
Mr Onn Hafiz added that there would be four zones that would combine counters of all the relevant agencies at the Johor Causeway to facilitate a single clearance system.
“Currently, travellers need to stop twice to clear their passport and pay for their Touch ’n Go (TnG) fee, but after this, they need to stop only once,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Chen told the state assembly that Singaporean artiste Wang Lei had recently expressed his frustration at having to spend seven hours waiting at the Causeway due to congestion.
Mr Chen said that while there were initiatives taken to monitor congestion at the border, there was still room for improvement.
He added that the congestion problem would affect efforts by the state government to attract more investors. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
