Johor election: Malaysian task force to tackle potential border travel disruptions on Jul 11 polling day
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said his ministry also plans to provide “dedicated lanes” at immigration checkpoints for Johoreans residing in Singapore and returning to vote at the Johor polls.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution (centre) at the Puteri Wangsa nomination centre on Jun 26, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Zamzahuri Abas)
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JOHOR: Malaysia has established a special task force to deal with any potential travel disruptions at the Johor-Singapore border crossings on Jul 11 as Johoreans return to vote in the southern state’s legislature election, says its home minister.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday (Jun 27) in Johor, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said travel at the Singapore-Johor border crossings continue to face a “possibility of disruptions” as the country rolls out a new immigration system.
But he stressed that the ministry’s “highest priority” was to ensure no disruptions on the Jul 11 polling day, with his ministry’s task force on hand to handle any that might occur.
“Naturally, we hope they will not. Nevertheless, if they do, we have prepared contingency plans, including Plan A and Plan B. Those are the instructions I have given to the ministry,” he said, without elaborating on the measures.
The home ministry also plans to provide “dedicated lanes” at the immigration checkpoints for Malaysian voters residing in Singapore, said Saifuddin, speaking on the sidelines of nomination proceedings.
“We will make every effort, where necessary, including providing dedicated lanes to facilitate Malaysian voters residing in Singapore so that they can return home and fulfil their civic responsibility,” he told reporters.
Saifuddin was responding to questions on whether there will be special arrangements at the two Singapore-Malaysia border crossings – the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) customs, immigration and quarantine complex linked to the Woodlands Causeway and Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ (KSAB) linked to Tuas Second Link.
He also said there could still be “occasional hiccups” as the country prepares for a new immigration system rollout.
The home minister was referring to the transition from the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs), the immigration department’s digital system, to the National Integrated Immigration System (MyNIISe) which is aimed at improving reliability and handling higher passenger volumes crossing the border.
He added that the implementation is currently in its final phase, as local media previously reported that the MyNIISE system will be fully implemented in September.
Last month, tens of thousands of travellers faced long queues at immigration checkpoints across Malaysia, including at the Johor-Singapore land border as a nationwide system outage crippled immigration clearance for about five hours.
The disruption marks the second major immigration system crash in just over a month. A similar incident left thousands of travellers stranded for about two hours on Apr 23.
In 2022, local media estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 Johoreans are working in neighbouring Singapore. The Johor electorate numbers at around 2.7 million.
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Saifuddin on Saturday added there needs to be an efficient and reliable cross-border transport system for the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JSSEZ) to succeed.
“This is just one example of how the federal government policies and planning deliver significant benefits to the people of Johor,” he said, as he was campaigning for Pakatan Harapan’s Puteri Wangsa candidate Maszlee Malik.
“That is why Pakatan Harapan believes it is important to establish two governments working in alignment, supporting the same aspirations and development agenda.”
Saifuddin, who is also PH’s secretary-general, was accompanying Maszlee at the nomination centre.
Maszlee had served as Malaysia’s education minister during PH’s first administration under former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad from 2018 to 2020.
Although Anwar has yet to name PH’s chief minister candidate, Maszlee – who is among the candidates with the biggest profile owing to his previous stint as a Cabinet minister – has emerged as one of the frontrunners for the post, according to local media reports.
Although PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) are partners in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s federal unity government, they remain political rivals in Johor, where the former served as the opposition in the state assembly and BN is the governing coalition.
BN is defending 40 seats in the 56-member assembly, PH holds 12 seats, Perikatan Nasional (PN) four, while the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) has one seat.
Source: CNA/ia(ao)
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