Ready to help: People queuing up for enquiries and assistance on their VEP application at the VEP collection centre in Danga Bay in Johor Baru.
Fewer vehicles enter Johor from Singapore on day one
JOHOR BARU: While the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) rule took off without a glitch, there were fewer vehicles entering the state from Singapore.
Since morning, the number of cars entering via the two land borders has seen a drop despite earlier assurances from the Malaysian Road Transport Department (JPJ) that all Singaporean drivers could still enter Johor despite not having their VEP beginning yesterday.
However, a Home Ministry official at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (BSI) said there was a decline of about 20% since yesterday morning but it was still too early to say if it was due to the VEP.
“Last Thursday to Sunday, we had a huge influx of cars entering Johor Baru as early as 3.30am. Maybe all these people were rushing to come and register for the VEP,” the official said.
Johor works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh, when contacted, said he would need to check if there was indeed a reduction but he had not yet heard of any issues regarding vehicles entering the state since Oct 1.
Starting from yesterday, foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia from Singapore by land are required to have VEP, which comes in radio frequency identification (RFID) tags issued by the Malaysian Transport Ministry.
“Our main focus now is to ensure that all the teething problems regarding the registration and issuing of RFID stickers are all done as soon as possible,” Mohamad Fazli added.
Last week, JPJ director-general Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli said enforcement of the VEP for foreign-registered vehicles entering Johor would begin on Oct 1 but in phases.
In the first phase, all Singapore-registered vehicles without a VEP could still enter Malaysia.
All private vehicle owners from Singapore who have not yet obtained their RFID VEP tag will be reminded at the entry points to immediately register, install and activate the tag.
The owners can do so at any of these VEP installation centres in Johor Baru – TCSens Office, Danga Bay; JPJ Southern Region Academy; and Johor JPJ Office, Taman Daya – as well as at the VEP collection centre in Woodlands, Singapore.
Weeks before Oct 1, many vehicle owners, including Malaysians who work in the island republic, have struggled to secure the RFID tags, with long queues and complaints about the application process at the centres and online.
It has been revealed that as of Sept 25, 62,635 private vehicles from Singapore have activated the RFID tag for their VEP.
Meanwhile, when met yesterday, Singaporeans said that despite the initial concerns about crossing the Causeway without the mandatory VEP, their travel to Johor had gone smoothly.
Alan Chye, whose VEP application is still in progress, was glad that he could get through immigration clearance at the BSI without any hassle.
“We readied our documents as proof that our application was still in process. At the checkpoint, the Immigration Department official did not ask us about our permit. I am glad we have been given that leniency to sort things out,” he said at the VEP collection centre in Danga Bay here.
The 55-year-old entered Johor Baru with his family at around 8am and drove to the centre, as he had trouble deregistering his old vehicle before registering his current car for the VEP.
The self-employed man added that his enquiry email to the JPJ and TCSens – the vendor handling the VEP exercise – had gone unanswered for about three weeks.
“I decided to seek help at the centre even though I had to wait for hours due to the high visitor volume,” he said.
“Some of them shared their experience of having come to the centre five times before successfully receiving their RFID tags.”
Chye urged the government to get to the root of the problem and offer a better solution to the application process.
Another Singaporean, Donovan Hiew, 25, who had not received his RFID tag in the mail, said he took the risk of entering Johor Baru without it.
“I had successfully applied for the permit online and opted for the tag to be posted to my home in Singapore but it never arrived.
“I decided to try my luck by walking into the Danga Bay centre without an appointment. I was relieved that the staff were helpful. And within two hours, I had the RFID tag fixed on my car already,” said the student.
For Ismail Saidin, 69, he had completed his VEP online application and received his RFID tag via the post in May.
“However, I struggled to get the tag activated. After months of back-and-forth emails, I am here at the Danga Bay centre hoping to get it activated immediately so that I can enter Johor Baru next time without any hiccups.
“I would hate to get into trouble with the authorities for this as I had already completed my application ahead of time. It’s not my fault that the system could not activate my RFID tag,” he said.
Checks by The Star at the VEP collection centre in Danga Bay saw a large crowd queuing up for enquiries and assistance to their applications.
