SINGAPORE - Traffic was heavy at Tuas Checkpoint on Thursday morning (Nov 30), as technical issues slowed down the immigration clearance process.

In a series of travel advisories posted on its Facebook page starting from 9am, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said the heavy traffic was caused by "intermittent slowness" in its immigration clearance system.

At 11.48am, the authority said the system was "progressively resuming normalcy", but traffic remained heavy.

In a final update at 12.26pm, it said the immigration clearance system at Tuas checkpoint was operating normally again, and that traffic there was also easing up gradually.

To handle the situation, ICA had deployed more resources to manage it.

It urged motorists to maintain lane discipline and to cooperate with ICA officers on site. Those who require assistance can approach the officers.

Travellers could also choose to postpone non-essential travel through Tuas Checkpoint.

Before embarking on their journeys, they were told to check the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) One Motoring or MyTransport.SG portal to find out about the traffic conditions.

"We seek travellers' patience and understanding as investigations are ongoing," ICA had said.

The agency clarified that the clearance system at other checkpoints are not affected.

The live cameras from the One.Motoring website showed that as of 11.46am, there was a traffic jam at the Tuas checkpoint heading into Johor.