​Johor Government Wants to Reopen Land Border with Singapore Within the Next Few Days

(Photo Credit: Straits Times)

The Johor government has played the ultimate Reverse Uno card. It wants to reopen the land border with Singapore within the next few days.

The Johor state government has claimed that it wants to reopen the land border with Singapore within the next few days.

This comes less than 24 hours after the Malaysia government imposed a “restricted movement order”, aka lockdown, to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

First announced on 16 March 2020, the lockdown will bar citizens from going overseas and foreigners from entering the country for two weeks, from 18 to 31 March 2020.

According to Malaysia news portal The Star, Johor’s chief minister Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad said that the reopening of the land borders would be done with “more stringent health checks on both sides of the border”.

“We are coming up with a mitigation plan during this COVID-19 outbreak,” he said during a press conference with state executive councillors on Wednesday, 18 March.

“Among the categories exempted are those with work passes by Malaysia or Singapore, students studying in Singapore, those with specialised skills, businessmen, those involved in logistics and others that would be announced soon,” he added.

However, it was reported that social visitors and tourists will not be exempted from this mitigation plan.

He also said a special committee headed by him, the state secretary and state security council would discuss the matter further, before having a discussion with their Singaporean counterparts.

After said discussion, they will forward the matter to the Malaysian Federal Government for announcement.

The lockdown has been in effect since 12am today, 18 March 2020. All foreigners who are not employed under “essential services” will not be allowed from entering Malaysia during the lockdown period.

This includes Singaporeans with Malaysian PR status. Those employed under “essential services” must obtain a verification letter from their employers and must present it to the Malaysian Immigration Department at the point of entry.

To learn more about the Malaysia travel restriction, please check out the following article.

Read More: Everything You Need to Know About the Malaysia Lockdown

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