JB folk want mini CIQ for pedestrians

12 July 2010 , By The Star

Business operators along Jalan Wong Ah Fook have been left to wonder when the construction of a mini Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex for pedestrians will take place.

Johor Baru MCA Public Complaints Bureau deputy chief Michael Tay said he had received more than 20 enquiries asking when the mini CIQ complex would be built.

He said traders suffered 50% decline in their businesses due to lack of traffic after the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar CIQ complex was built.

“Most commuters and motorists using the new CIQ complex are diverted from the city centre. Having a mini CIQ near the old Causeway checkpoint will increase pedestrian traffic to the city centre and boost business there,” he said in an interview.

Tay said Malaysians using public transport to Singapore also complained about having to take the long walk along the new CIQ.

Currently, commuters leave the CIQ through Johor Baru Central and City Square, which would require them to walk to the nearest bus stop.

“All of us are in the dark over the status of the proposed mini CIQ. The Government must either build it or tell us whether there is going to be one,” said Tay.

Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Samad said talks on the mini CIQ had been put on hold because of other issues such as a proposed canal as part of the city’s transformation plan.

In January last year, Shahrir, who was then Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, had proposed using the old CIQ for pedestrian traffic.