Why Causeway clearance can't be a breeze like Changi

17 Jun 2009

The Straits Times

WE REFER to the Forum Online letter, 'Make Causeway crossing akin to Changi Airport experience' (June 3) by Mr Amarjit S. Wasan.

We appreciate Mr Amarjit's sentiment. He had travelled through the Causeway on May 30, which was the start of the June school holidays, a period when there is typically a surge in the number of travellers during peak periods. To facilitate clearance during the peak period, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) deployed all our available manpower, including recalling off-duty officers, and the maximum number of counters were opened.

In addition to these efforts, travellers' cooperation, including pre-planning their journeys and maintaining lane discipline, is critical in ensuring smooth traffic during such periods.

However, while we will continue to improve our processes at every checkpoint, the suggestion that immigration and security clearance for the land checkpoints should emulate that of Changi airport is not feasible. Air travel is determined and scheduled - arrivals and departures must proceed according to this schedule, which dictates pre-determined times and days as well as maximum passenger, baggage and cargo loads. In fact, security clearance in a post-Sept 11 world means that travellers by air are recommended to check in at least two hours before departure.

Unlike the airport, vehicular traffic at the land checkpoints is largely free-flowing and often unpredictable since it is determined solely by the traveller. The modes of transport of travellers at the land checkpoints are also varied, ranging from motorcycles to buses. This in turn means that the design and location of immigration and security stations and the processes and procedures are also different between the airport and land checkpoints.

Chia Hui Keng (Ms)
Head, Public & Internal Communications Branch
Corporate Communications Division
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority


Make Causeway crossing akin to Changi Airport experience

3 Jun 2009

The Straits Times Online

I HAD an unpleasant and uncomfortable experience driving from Singapore to Johor Baru, via the Woodlands Checkpoint, last Saturday.

I just could not believe that this could happen in Singapore, after experiencing so many pleasant and smooth journeys through the beautifully organised and well-managed terminals at Changi Airport.

I left my home in Upper Changi and arrived close to the Woodlands Checkpoint in 30 minutes - a smooth and beautiful drive.

Then the shock.

A traffic snarl formed about 1.6km from the checkpoint. There were about four to five lanes converging into two as we neared the checkpoint.

There were no road signs giving advance warning about converging lanes, resulting in the criss-crossing of vehicles dangerously fighting for space and squeezing into lanes.

As darkness approached, the lighting was inadequate and road signs became difficult to read.

Upon approaching the line of immigration booths, I could not believe the concrete jungle of a checkpoint, with insufficient greenery and no decorative features, so very different from the scene at Changi Airport's terminals.

Immigration staff were also very different in personality and attitude from those at the airport terminals.

When it came time to pay the car exit fees, I had to remove the CashCard from the in-vehicle unit and insert it into a slot in order for the barrier to be lifted.

It took 90 minutes to cross the Singapore checkpoint and get on the Causeway, and another hour thereafter to arrive at and clear the immigration and customs counters at JB. The return journey was a little less unpleasant, but it also took 90 minutes in all. We spent six hours on the road that evening to attend a two-hour wedding function in JB.

I am confident that creative short-term solutions can be worked out on the Singapore side to enhance public safety and convenience, shorten waiting times and make visitor travel so much more comfortable and pleasant.

For the medium to longer term, a possible integration of systems and processes may be explored for the mutual benefit of all travellers and staff on both sides of the Causeway. Let us try to make this border crossing an experience similar to that at Changi.

Amarjit S. Wasan