Muhyiddin moots third link, maybe a tunnel, to Singapore

(FMT) – The federal government has been informed about the need for a third link between Johor and Singapore to ease congestion at the two entry points, the state assembly was told today.

Cabinet minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is state assemblyman for Gambir, said the construction of a third link was a long-term measure to tackle congestion at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex and Sultan Abu Bakar complex.

Muhyiddin said he had already informed the federal government about the need for the construction of the bridge.

“If the state government supports I will ensure this initiative (the construction of a third link) will be started,” he said during a debate at the Johor state assembly sitting here today.

Muhyiddin, who chairs a Special Committee on Congestion at the Johor Causeway said preliminary studies have already been conducted to indicate there is a need to build a third bridge linking Johor and Singapore.

He said the third link did not have to be a bridge but could also be a tunnel across the Straits of Tebrau.

“Before we used to have only one bridge (Johor–Singapore Causeway), then we had two bridges (Johor Causeway and Malaysia-Singapore Second Link) and now these two can no longer cope (with the congestion),” he said.

State executive councillor for public works, transport and Infrastructure Mohd Solihan Badri, told reporters outside the state assembly hall that Muhyiddin’s third bridge proposal was an appropriate step.

He said the CIQ complex in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, built in 2003, would reach its full capacity next year and expansion of the area would not be much help to alleviate congestion at the Johor Causeway.