JOHOR BARU: The number of Singapore-registered vehicles entering Malaysia through the Causeway and the Second Link has returned to normal after an initial drop caused by the phased enforcement of the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) system.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said while a decline in vehicle entries was observed during the first two days of VEP enforcement, traffic flow recovered after Malaysia assured Singaporean motorists that fines would not be immediately imposed.
"Daily reports indicated that the number of Singapore vehicles entering Malaysia through land routes at the Johor Causeway and Second Link has returned to normal levels following the assurance that enforcement, including fines, will not be applied immediately," said Loke after officiating the Johor DAP convention here today.
He said enforcement would be rolled out in phases, with warning notices first issued to those who had not registered for the VEP.
The ministry was providing more time for Singaporean vehicle owners to comply with the registration and installation of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.
"We will allow more time for registration before taking punitive action, which will be announced later," he added.
Present were Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong and his deputy, Teo Nie Ching.
Up to Sept 30, the Road Transport Department had issued 112,658 RFID VEP tags to Singapore-registered private and commercial vehicles.
Out of these, 75,412 tags had been activated, while 37,246 remained inactivated.
Loke assured that there was currently no set deadline for full enforcement, urging Singaporean vehicle owners to register, install and activate their RFID VEP tags to avoid complications when entering or exiting Malaysia.
"We are working with vendors to increase the number of registration points to make the process easier and prevent congestion," said Loke.
He added that registration locations could not be set up in Singapore due to jurisdictional issues, but the vendors could find their own solutions.