Mohd Solihan Badri, Chairman of Johor State Public Works, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee told the state assembly that since the first Movement Control Order (MCO), the Government through the Johor Public Transport Corporation (PAJ) has been directly involved in helping to provide transportation during the pandemic.
PAJ acts as an intermediary and support department to meet transportation services during a pandemic while complying with the SOPs set by the National Security Council (NSC) of only a capacity of 50% were allowed for bus, taxi and e-hailing modes of transport.
“Among the efforts to help the authorities in dealing with the pandemic by using public transport is that PAJ has managed the entire Person Under Surveillance (PUS) who arrived from abroad, especially from Singapore and sent to quarantine centres using public services, namely buses in the district of Johor Bahru and parts outside the district of Johor Bahru, namely Batu Pahat, Muar, Kota Tinggi and Kulai,” he said.
PAJ also provided transport services using public buses to carry pedestrians across the national border between Malaysia and Singapore under the Reciprocal Green (RGL) scheme and the Periodic Shuttle Regulation (PCA) scheme.
This service involves cross-border services between Malaysia and Singapore in the area of the Sultan Iskandar Building CIQ Complex (BSI) to Woodlands CIQ and vice versa.
“To date, there is more transportation assistance involving public transport to bring COVID-19 patients to hospitals as well as transportation assistance to vaccination centres throughout Johor. Transport demand during this pandemic can be fulfilled through public buses and PAJ always provide support through public buses in supplying this demand with the approval of the state government through the SUK Management Services Division,” he concluded.
