Home Ministry seriously looking into reopening ‘shortcut’ at BSI checkpoint, says Saifuddin

JOHOR BARU: The Home Ministry is seriously looking into the possibility of reopening a “shortcut” at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (BSI CIQ) to give pedestrians a shorter route for passport clearance into Singapore.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (pic), said a joint committee, chaired by himself and Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, had been formed to look into matters related to overcoming the traffic congestion on the Causeway.

“Among matters that were discussed in the committee were initiatives to ease the congestion, which includes components such as lanes for lorries, buses, private vehicles, motorcycles and pedestrians.

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“The shortcut is one of the aspects that was given serious attention by the committee to come up with a solution,” he said in a press conference after attending a Pakatan Harapan ceramah for the Pulai by-election in Taman Dahlia here on Tuesday (Sept 5) night.

He however, did not provide a timeline when asked further.

Saifuddin was asked to comment on The Star’s report on Aug 17 which highlighted that hundreds of pedestrians, including pregnant women and senior citizens, are asking for the “shortcut” to be reopened.

Those interviewed said the shorter route, near the old Lion Hotel (now known as Hako Hotel) along Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, will save them time as they are now forced to walk 1.5km around the BSI CIQ.

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Many feel that reopening of the “shortcut” will also disperse traffic from the city centre, which is now heavily congested, especially during peak hours and weekends, due to ongoing construction works for the Rapid Transit System (RTS).

Checks by The Star showed that signs have been put up to deter pedestrians from using the access while auxiliary and traffic policemen have also been posted there to turn away those who try to use the “shortcut” via the bus lanes into the immigration area.

The area has two functioning escalators and is only a few minutes’ walk to the immigration counters.

A CIQ official when contacted said that previously pedestrians were allowed access through the walkway to enter the building for many years, until after the Covid-19 pandemic when the Home Ministry suddenly closed it.