JOHOR BARU: Only travellers who have completed their Covid-19 vaccination are allowed to cross the land border between Malaysia and Singapore, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

       “Travellers using the land border do not have to undergo quarantine, do not have to do pre-departure Covid-19 testing and do not have to do on-arrival testing either.

       “The land checkpoints at the Causeway and Second Link will be operational again 24 hours a day,” he said in a press conference at Parliament.

       “Travellers who have completed their vaccination and were using the air border between Malaysia and Singapore, are required to do a pre-departure RTK test two days before departing.

       “They too are not required to undergo quarantine or do any on-arrival testing for Covid-19,” he said.

       Khairy added that both governments would leave it to the respective airline companies to increase the number of flights based on commercial needs as there were no more Vaccinated Travel Lane restrictions.

       Meanwhile, Singapore health minister Ong Ye Kung, at an event in Selangor, said he had a good discussion with Khairy on working towards the full resumption of air and land travel between both countries for vaccinated persons.

       He said the agencies of both sides would work out the operational details soon.

       “As the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia and Singapore continues to improve, we can look forward to the resumption of more activities in the future and this must also include restoring the air and land connections between both countries.

       “Our economies and societies are so closely intertwined.

       “The people-to-people connections between Malaysia and Singapore have been incredibly numerous and close; almost every family in Singapore will have relatives living in Malaysia.

       “The Singapore-Kuala Lumpur aviation sector is the busiest in the world, as the Woodlands Causeway is for land border crossings,” Ong said during his keynote address at the National Institutes of Health Malaysia.

       He highlighted that Malaysia and Singapore had been working hand in hand throughout the Covid-19 crisis.

       “When the land border traffic was disrupted due to the Covid-19 virus, Singapore authorities sprang into action by housing the tens of thousands of Johoreans working in Singapore, since they could no longer commute on a daily basis across the causeways.

       “We ensured essential supplies and critical components continued to flow both ways.

       “Khairy and I also remain constantly in touch, to update each other on the situation in our countries and our respective responses and I have learnt much from my exchanges with him,” he said, adding that Malaysia had done very well with its vaccination roll-out and preparing the country for the endemic phase.

       In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi welcomed the announcement made by both Malaysia and Singapore.

       He said the decision by the Malaysia and Singapore governments to lift border restrictions would bring a positive impact to the economy and the people’s lives.

       “The state government welcomes the decision and thanks Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong for announcing this piece of good news for the Bangsa Johor people and Malaysians as a whole,” he said.

       Onn Hafiz said he would ensure all preparations were in place for the border reopening, including taking into consideration possible traffic congestion.

       “I hope to meet with the Singapore leadership in the near future to discuss the Johor-Singapore development direction too,” he said.