JOHOR BARU: The state government remains adamant with its plan to push for the reopening of the country's border with Singapore by June.
Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad said the state government was finalising the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to enable Malaysian workers to commute to Singapore.
"We will continue to push for the reopening of the border in June. Once we have presented the SOP for Malaysian workers to commute to the republic, I am confident Singapore will agree to the reopening."
He said the state government would also ensure that all workers were vaccinated before being allowed to commute between the two countries.
"The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry have allocated vaccines for 100,000 workers under the ImmuPlan Johor application," Hasni told reporters after launching the Modul Kesedaran Jenayah Kanak-Kanak dan Remaja Johor (MEKAR) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Also present were Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay and UTM vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Ahmad Fauzi Ismail.
Hasni said the SOP includes a mechanism to control the movement of the workers while they are in Singapore, like the one used for lorry drivers transporting goods.
"At the moment, each lorry driver are only allowed to go to certain destinations to transport goods. A similar mechanism can be used for Malaysian workers."
Hasni said the reopening of the border was one of the issues to be discussed in a meeting between Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in May.
"We are hoping for a positive outcome on this matter from the meeting."