Registration expected for private vehicles under VTL(land) to Malaysia when the time comes, says Gan

IF PRIVATE vehicles are to be allowed to cross from Singapore to Malaysia under the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) for land, a registration system is expected to be set up, because the authorities need to keep tabs on the human traffic passing through the borders.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced on Wednesday (Nov 24) the much-anticipated VTL across the Causeway for vaccinated citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass-holders of Singapore and Malaysia; these groups of individuals would be able to travel into either country without quarantine, but on VTL-designated buses from Nov 29.

MTI Minister Gan Kim Yong said at a media doorstop on Wednesday that the scheme could next be extended to trains before it is extended to private vehicles. This is because the authorities would be able to control human traffic through the booking for train tickets as both countries reopen the borders in a calibrated, measured manner.

"I think it will take some time before we would allow private vehicles to travel across... If we were to do that, there will be some form of a booking system or registration system, so we know how many people are going across every day. I think the system has to be put in place. The immediate focus is really on bus (travel); the next step may be on trains between the two places," he said.

The minister did not talk about raising the daily quota to the rumoured 5,000 under the VTL (land) with his Malaysian counterpart as the speed and the pace at which the VTL (land) would expand will be determined by the pandemic situation on both sides.

Both countries will review the situation every week and see whether there is scope to increase the capacity on a weekly basis.

Gan issued a realistic reminder to those hoping to do shopping across Causeway in the near future: "We also discussed (this) - it is probably not possible for us to revert to the pre-pandemic situation, in which we had, maybe, more than 100,000 people travel across the Causeway every day. So I think it will take some time before we are able to reach that status."

The current arrangement for cargo drivers remains unchanged, as it has been running quite smoothly, he said.

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Singapore and Malaysia to launch VTL across the Causeway from Nov 29