Six-hour traffic jams at checkpoints as Sept school holidays start

Heavy traffic at land border checkpoints greeted the start of the September school holidays, with some motorists sharing they were stuck in the traffic jam for six hours.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) posted an advisory on Wednesday (Aug 31) that traffic flow through the land checkpoints is returning to pre-Covid-19 levels.

More than 313,000 visitors cleared immigration at the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints each day from Aug 26 to 28.

It appears that many families decided to get an early start on their vacations in Johor as heavy traffic formed early on Friday (Sept 2).

Travellers soon confirmed in multiple online posts that the tailback from the checkpoints stretched kilometres.

A netizen took to Facebook, urging Malaysian immigration to open up more counters to speed up processing.

“Been hours stand still, and it becomes a norm nowadays. Please relook at immigration and ensure them to open more counters in reality, not on media only. Old folds, kids and ladies suffering,” said a Facebook group Malaysia-Singapore Border Crossers member, tagging Malaysian politician Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

8World News reported that some motorists were stuck in the traffic jam for six hours as they tried crossing the borders.

They also added that only three or four immigration counters were operational on the Johor side, which added to further delays.

Human traffic at the Sultan Iskanda Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex was equally heavy.

According to a Facebook post by ICA on Saturday (Sept 3) at 5:25 am, there was already heavy departure traffic at Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints.

“Delays are expected and travellers are advised to check traffic conditions before embarking on their journey. Motorists are reminded to maintain lane discipline and cooperate with officers on site. Please follow ICA Facebook for more updates,” said ICA./TISG

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