No-quarantine land travel to Singapore ‘in a few weeks’

 

New travel arrangements are expected to limit the number of commuters allowed to cross, unlike pre-Covid-19 days at the Johor Causeway as in this photograph. (Bernama pic)

SINGAPORE: A vaccinated travel lane (VTL) for quarantine-free land transport between Singapore and Malaysia is expected to be launched in a few weeks, said the Singapore multi-ministry task force on Covid-19.

“Our discussions with Malaysia on a VTL-like arrangement for our land links have progressed well,” task force co-chair Gan Kim Yong said at a virtual press conference here today. “We are working to launch this soon… hopefully in a few weeks’ time,” he added.

“Many families have been separated from one another for a long time because of border restrictions. We hope this land link arrangement will allow many of them to be reunited, and they will be one of our priorities,” said Gan, who is also the republic’s trade and industry minister.

The two countries announced on Nov 8 that they would launch a vaccinated travel lane between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Nov 29.

Malaysia’s high commissioner to Singapore, Azfar Mohamad Mustafar, had said recently that related issues on health, testing regimes and cross-border processes were being worked out.

There was likely to be a controlled opening, with limits on the number of daily commuters. It would not reach pre-Covid-19 levels, when almost 200,000 to 300,000 people travelled between the two countries daily.

Asked whether the land VTL would be open to those using public transport such as trains and buses, Azfar said: “I think this will be easier to manage instead of allowing people to drive their own cars and motorcycles across the Causeway.” - FMT