Malaysia's main highways clogged up amid CNY rush

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's major highways were reduced to a slow crawl on the weekend as many people journeyed home to celebrate the Chinese New Year in their home towns.

The authorities reported kilometres-long traffic jams, in some places caused by accidents that blocked one or more lanes.

Today would be the last day to "balik kampung" (return to home towns) before Chinese New Year celebrations tomorrow and Wednesday.

Malaysians of other races were also heading to their home towns to take advantage of the long weekend.

After a year of absence due to Covid-19 restrictions, this year will be the first time many Malaysian Chinese are celebrating the festive event in their home towns.

Last year, when Chinese New Year was on Feb 12, interstate travel was banned for everyone except for those in essential services.

The government lifted interstate travel only in October last year, when Covid-19 daily caseloads fell.

An estimated 4.6 million vehicles travelled on the highways nationwide on Saturday, said principal assistant director superintendent Bakri Zainal Abidin at the Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department of Malaysian police headquarters.

Malaysians use the North-South Expressway (Plus) to travel north to Perak, Penang and Perlis states, or drive south to Melaka and Johor.

Others took the Karak Highway to head towards the east coast states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.

Mr Bakri said traffic flow was very high on Saturday, with massive congestion reported from two toll plazas on the east coast.

He estimated a traffic volume increase of 17.5 per cent for the Plus highway with 1.6 million vehicles on the road.

Plus Malaysia, operator of the North-South Expressway, said that to make traffic flow smoother, heavy vehicles were banned from using the country's highways yesterday and today, as well as from Thursday to Saturday when a massive reverse flow of traffic is expected.

House visits and family reunion dinners will be allowed, but open houses - where a family or organisation invites anyone to come to their homes - are banned, to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infections.

Health experts are not expecting a surge in Covid-19 cases with the Chinese New Year as most adults are fully vaccinated.

A total of 78.7 per cent of Malaysia's population is fully vaccinated, or 97.9 per cent of those above 18 years old.

Malaysia reported 4,915 new cases yesterday - slightly down from the 5,000 cases in the previous three days.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK