[KatoeyLover69]

Report from The Straits Times (Singapore) dated Monday 26 December 2005 :-

Gridlock :Motorists and bus commuters are seething at massive jams on Causeway and Second Link during festive season and want something done

By Jeremy Au Yong


THE electronic signboard said it all: Massive jam at Tuas Checkpoint.

Cars leaving and entering Singapore either via the Second Link or the Causeway yesterday morning were caught in a gridlock of traffic.

Bus lanes and those for cars were clogged, and traffic moved so slowly that bored bus drivers on the Second Link got out of their buses to chat with one another.

It left commuters and motorists heading to Malaysia yesterday for the Christmas holiday seething.

The gridlock at both land checkpoints yesterday was not unexpected. Last Sunday, major traffic jams had given a prelude to traffic during the Christmas and New Year long weekends.

Motorists and bus passengers The Sunday Times interviewed yesterday and last week want something done to ease the traffic flow.

At the heart of their complaints is the small number of immigration counters open to clear motorists and bus passengers. And with traffic hitting nearly 75,000 cars one way at the Tuas Checkpoint last weekend - double the daily number - some took up to three hours to make it to the front of the queue getting into Singapore.

Engineer Peter Siew, 40, who was heading to Kuala Lumpur by bus yesterday for a family reunion, was stuck for more than an hour at the Second Link. He also goes to Johor at least once every two months to shop.

He said: 'When I asked the counter staff why they don't open more counters, they say their hands are tied.'

At least 10 readers have written to The Straits Times Forum page, calling last weekend's jam 'ridiculous', 'frustrating' and 'one of the worst' they had ever seen.

Businessman M. Rajavarman, 43, was rushing back from a wedding in Johor with his sick infant when he encountered the jam. Though he lives near the Woodlands Checkpoint, he decided to use the Tuas crossing that day as he thought it would be faster.

'Instead, I paid a higher toll, had to wait two hours and fight through the jam to take my son to see a doctor. I won't go through it again. Why are they advertising asking people to use the Second Link if it's like this?' he said.

Housewife Audirene Ang, 35, was caught in the same queue on the way back with her friends from a shopping trip to Kuala Lumpur.

She said: 'It's really ridiculous. They need to do something about it. We had to wait two hours to get through Singapore.'

In response to queries from The Sunday Times, an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) spokesman said it 'puts in every effort to clear travellers as quickly as possible, while working within our manpower and infrastructure constraints'.

It added that traffic congestion was inevitable when large numbers of people use the land checkpoints at the same time.

'Nonetheless, ICA has deployed all available resources to clear the travellers as quickly as possible,' the spokesman said.

Still, motorists and commuters say they usually take no more than 10 minutes to breeze through the Malaysian side.

Mr Jasmy Juwahir, assistant head at the Sultan Abu Bakar immigration complex on the Malaysian side of the Second Link, said: 'On weekends when we are expecting big crowds, we will have more staff. For this Christmas weekend, it is all hands on deck. We are prepared to open all 24 booths for cars and all 24 booths for bus passengers.'

But those who survived the long crawl up north yesterday are already dreading their return trip.

Mr Nizam Mohd Sam, 34, a bus driver who has been driving the KL-Singapore route every day for three years, said: 'If you thought today was bad, wait till you see the jam coming back in on Monday.'

For real-time traffic conditions, call the Check-Tips hotline on +65-6863-0117.