Leaders from both countries said limited travel will be
allowed across the land border from Monday, with plans to gradually relax
restrictions. Air travel will reopen on the same day to fully vaccinated
passengers, allowing quarantine-free travel between the two countries, with
fewer restrictions.
Travelers crossing the Causeway Bridge that connects the
island of Singapore with the Malaysian peninsula must be citizens, permanent
residents or long-term pass holders, according to separate statements from the
leaders of both governments. In the first phase, the number of travelers
crossing the land border per day will be limited to 2,880 and required to
travel on designated bus services, the statements said.
The Causeway was one of the world’s busiest land borders
before the pandemic struck.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the partial
border reopening would give priority to workers in either country who have not
been able to visit their families since the land crossing was shut in March
2020.
Lee said the reopening of the border will be a “big step
towards reconnecting our people and economies.” A second land link will also
subsequently be restored, he added.
Limits on land border crossings will progressively be
relaxed to include general travelers and other modes of transportation than the
bus services, the statements added.
Travelers, except children aged two and below, must test
negative two days before entering Singapore and are required to register online
before purchasing bus tickets. Unvaccinated children aged 12 and below must be
accompanied by fully vaccinated parents or guardians, the governments said.
With more than 95% of the adult population in both countries
fully vaccinated, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this has
allowed both countries to reopen their land border in a “gradual, safe,
systematic, and sustainable manner.”
More than 350,000 people crossed daily the Causeway before
it was shut, mostly Malaysians working in Singapore due to a favorable exchange
rate. Officials estimated that more than 100,000 Malaysians were stuck in the
island-state after the border closed. -AP
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