Checkpoint delays caused thousands of chickens to die, say poultry importers

Thousands of chickens have died during the journey from Malaysia to Singapore after long delays at Tuas Checkpoint in the past week.

Poultry importers who spoke to The Sunday Times said the congestion was especially bad last Wednesday and Thursday, even though cargo drivers were already experiencing delays from Monday.

Mr Oh Wei Chiat, chief operating officer of Boong Poultry, said he has about four to five trucks of chickens coming into Singapore from Johor Baru almost every day.

About 200 to 300 chickens, or about 6 per cent to 10 per cent of the chickens, in each truck died over the past week.

Mr Oh said: "One reason is the heat. They are also trapped in a limited space for many hours. And they are without food and drink, because we don't usually feed the chickens before transporting them."

Mr Johnson Toh, director of poultry importer Toh Thye San Farm said about 2,000 chickens died after a delay of about nine to 11 hours on the two days.

But importers said the situation has been improving since Friday.

Mr Ong Kian San, chairman of Poultry Merchants' Association, Singapore, said: "The delays are much shorter. But we will have to wait for next week to see if the situation really improves."

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Singapore Food Agency said in a joint statement on Friday that the authorities are aware of the congestion experienced by cargo drivers at Tuas Checkpoint.

They added: "The delays were due to a combination of factors. Cargo volume has returned to pre-Covid levels and, with the continued closure of Malaysia's Bangunan Sultan Iskandar from 7pm to 7am, as well as the upcoming Chinese New Year, the overall cargo volume is now more concentrated at certain times of the day, leading to traffic bunching."

The authorities said that the Covid-19 testing service provider had also encountered technical issues last Wednesday. As a result of these issues, the service provider had to fall back on manual verification of the test results.

The issues have since been rectified and further measures have been taken to speed up the flow.

Since Jan 22, cargo drivers entering Singapore via land checkpoints have had to take a Covid-19 test, and anyone who tests positive will not be allowed to enter.

Malaysian news outlet The Star has also reported that truckers are hoping for the Malaysian and the Singaporean governments to extend the operating hours at the Causeway. Johor Trucking Association president Novan Hing said on Friday that while the Second Link is open 24 hours daily, the Causeway operates for only 12 hours, between 7am and 7pm.

The hours were reduced in April last year due to reduced traffic resulting from Malaysia's movement control order and Singapore's circuit breaker measure.