Land VTL for Malaysia may Commence in a Few Weeks’ Time

Earlier this month, VTL was announced for arrivals by air by the end of November

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The Iskandarian
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Johor Bahru CIQ (Image by Kyaizee Mohd)

**UPDATED**

Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL)-like arrangement for land links would be OPENED on the 29th of November as the air links, according to Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Ir. Haji Hasni yesterday during the launch of a hotel (as reported by the China Press).
However, local media shared that only long-term pass holders (employed in Singapore and Johor Bahru) will be eligible for land travel between the 2 countries for now.
Do note that at the time of reporting, Singapore has yet to confirm this.
Meanwhile, kindly refer to this official site from Singapore Aviation Authority on the conditions of air VTL – https://www.caas.gov.sg/who-we-are/newsroom/Detail/vaccinated-travel-applications-for-travel-between-singapore-and-malaysia-to-start-from-22-november-2021
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*Previously reported*

Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL)-like arrangement for land links would be opened in a few weeks according to the Singapore Multi-Ministry Taskforce on COVID-19 in a virtual press conference on Monday, 15th of November.

Co-chairman of Singapore COVID-19 Taskforce, Gan Kim Yong, who is also Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry said the discussion to commence the land links VTL has progressed well. “We are working to launch this soon hopefully in a few weeks’ time,” he added while saying that Singapore and Malaysia have strong links on many levels, particularly among the people.

“Many families have been separated from one another for a long time because of border restrictions. We hope this land link arrangement will allow many of them to be reunited, and they will be one of our priorities,” he said.

Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Datuk Azfar Mohamad Mustafar, recently indicated that the appropriate agencies in Malaysia and Singapore were working out issues such as health, testing regimes, and cross-border processes.

“These are small concerns that I am confident can be resolved shortly,” he reportedly remarked, adding that reopening the land border would be more difficult than the VTL due to the high volume of commuters.

This is a normal daily scene between the Malaysian and Singapore CIQs pre-COVID days (Image by Kyaizee Mohd)

However, he warned that it would not be like the pre-COVID-19 era, where over 200,000 to 300,000 people travelled between the two countries on a daily basis.

“For a start, we would need to have a controlled opening. That means limiting the number of daily commuters,” he was quoted as saying.

He went on to say that, unlike the other cross-border travel schemes implemented during the pandemic, such as the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) and the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL), the land VTL would be beneficial since it did not need quarantine on both sides.

In response to a question on whether the land VTL will first be available to individuals using public transportation such as trains and buses, Dr Azfar stated, “I think this will be easier to regulate than allowing people to drive their own vehicles and motorbikes across the Causeway.”

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