JB mayor fumes as traffic woes reach boiling point

JOHOR BARU: The bad traffic situation has even enraged Mayor Datuk Mohd Noorazam Osman.

He said lately, Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) had been getting a lot of complaints from road users voicing out their frustration over the worsening traffic situation.

“Not only are they unhappy, but I, too, am frustrated with the traffic situation that has been getting from bad to worse.

“People are assuming that MBJB is directly involved in roadwork projects, but we are not.

“These projects are being carried out at locations under the jurisdiction of the Works Department (JKR),” he said when met after chairing the MBJB full council meeting yesterday.

He said the traffic congestion at many locations throughout Johor Baru was due to roadwork and development projects that were being done simultaneously.

Mohd Noorazam said the high volume of Singapore-registered vehicles was also adding to the increasing number of vehicles.

“I have voiced out during a meeting with relevant agencies that we need a better traffic management system in place to help ease the traffic flow coming into and from the city area. If not, we will be stuck in traffic,” he said.

Mohd Noorazam also said it was timely to have an efficient public transport system network that would complement the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, which is currently being developed.

He said among the public transport systems that both the state and federal governments should seriously consider was a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system connecting Johor Baru and other nearby districts such as Kulai and Pasir Gudang.