The Star and other media have highlighted that pedestrians, including pregnant women, have been calling for the shortcut to be reopened, following its closure during the Covid-19 pandemic.
They are currently forced to walk 1.5km around the BSI CIQ.
“(The Cabinet committee) gave the green light to carry out a dry run for about two months. We will start this and see if there are any problems.
“If everything is okay, we will bring up the matter again to the Cabinet to get approval for the route to be gazetted as official access to get to the BSI,” Mr Fazli was quoted as saying by The Star.
He added that the dry run for the third pedestrian route is expected to start in the coming weeks should it be given the green light by Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi but gave no further details.
“We may need about two to three weeks to get everything prepared before starting the dry run,” said Mr Fazli.
The state executive councillor said that the walkway will be the first official route for pedestrians to get to the checkpoint building directly should the access route be gazetted.
“There are currently no direct routes to the BSI. The two entrances along Jalan Jim Quee and Jalan Tun (Abdul) Razak allow people to get to the CIQ through JB Sentral.
“If this shortcut is to be gazetted, people would then have direct access to the CIQ without having to go through JB Sentral,” Mr Fazli was reported as saying by The Star.
Local media had earlier reported that Malaysia’s Home Ministry had been looking into reopening the walkway to Johor’s checkpoints to allow pedestrians a shorter route for passport clearance to enter Singapore.
Source: CNA
