KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he had asked Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad to discuss the issue of cross-border movement with Singapore, especially for Malaysians commuting to the neighbouring country for work.
“The important thing is daily cross-border movement, as it involves hundreds of thousands, while Singapore has still not opened the border for that purpose. Malaysian workers in the republic have not returned to Malaysia because daily travel to Johor Baru has not been allowed for more than a year,” he said in a special interview with senior media editors here recently.
He said that Singapore was previously not ready to allow entry from Malaysia given the high number of cases in Malaysia then, including the suspension of the Singapore-Malaysia Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL).
“Now, though we are quite worried about the number of cases in Singapore, which has increased to 2,000 cases a day, we will still continue discussions with Singapore to reopen the border,” he said.
Previously, Malaysia and Singapore agreed to implement Malaysia-Singapore border crossing under the RGL scheme and the Periodic Commuting Arrangement starting August 17 last year, but then Singapore suspended the RGL on February 1 this year while Malaysia took similar action on May 13.
On interstate travel, which will be allowed once the national vaccination rate exceeds 90%, the prime minister said it would happen soon and he would announce it along with the stipulated standard operating procedures.
According to the CovidNow portal, 20,317,843 individuals or 86.8% of adults in Malaysia have completed their vaccinations as of yesterday. – Bernama, October 2, 2021
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