It was reported that over the weekend (14-15 Dec), a traffic nightmare came to life for commuters heading out of Singapore at both the Tuas and Woodlands Checkpoints.
One passenger told ST that she had to endure an 8 hour journey simply to get to JB on Friday afternoon (14 Dec).
Yesterday (17 Dec), the traffic jams continued to haunt the commuters. At 7.44am, ICA posted a message on Facebook saying that there was a van which broke down along the causeway, heading towards Singapore.
ICA’s posting caused a reaction, with more people getting angry and condemning ICA on its Facebook page.
Netizens condemn ICA
Eng Aun Lee wrote, “Jam whole bridge towards Singapore since 4 am, no explanation and now u just came out with an excuse at 7.45 am saying that the jam is caused by a van breakdown??? Everyone were stuck in the massive jam for at least 3 and half hours just to get into Singapore!”
Wai Wei Lin revealed that few counters were opened, “Just open 2 line and Few counter …that’s why very Jam…not the Van break Down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stuck few Hours because of nobody work????? Please wake up…okay?”
“4hr jam Thank you for so hard working,” Kc Dan sarcastically commented.
Sri Dharan Subramaniam asked, “Do you guys think ica care about this….? No!!!!”
Mike Lim also angrily commented, “Took more than 3 hrs to get back into SG from Malaysia thru the woodlands causeway at 3am this morning, only 1 Sg immigration booth is operating per car lane, traffic was backup all the way to Johor side. There gotta be a better way to manage this!! Everybody understand peak traffic condition but only 1 operating booth per car lane on School holidays/Sun/Pre-Christmas shopping spree is ridiculous!! Is this some sort of conspiracy theory?”
Prominent Singaporean business woman, Jun Low shared on her Facebook page that only four immigration counters were open despite the long queue, she asked, “is that our efficiency of our country? Should the authority not look into it?”
Johor authority confirms jam caused by Singapore’s side
Meanwhile, Malaysian media, The Star, reported that “tighter security checks” on the Singapore side are causing a traffic backlog in Johor (‘Tighter security checks by Singapore causing traffic backlog in Johor‘).
It quoted Johor Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department chief, Supt Razak Md Said, saying that Singapore has imposed tighter security checks on vehicles going through its checkpoints at Woodlands and Tuas.
“We do not know when they started increasing security checks but the traffic congestion became apparent since this morning (17 Dec)”, he said. “We will be monitoring the traffic condition to ensure the safety of users.”
Indeed, due to the high cost of living in Singapore, many cost-conscious Singaporeans are already flocking to Johor for their groceries, dining, medicine, health supplements and shopping because of the huge cost savings they can get. With the massive jams now occurring at the Singapore checkpoints, it can only make the lives of these Singaporeans even more miserable.
No wonder Singaporeans are angry with their own government agency ICA.
