THE shortcut, commonly referred to as a ‘rat route’ for pedestrians to enter the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) in Johor Baru will be closed with immediate effect.

Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi said this is being done for safety reasons following reports of accidents occurring in the area.

“The ‘rat route’ to enter the building is being carefully studied and there is a short-term proposal to provide shuttle buses to ferry pedestrians from the Stulang area to the BSI CIQ.

“There have been casualties, so we are worried this will continue to happen due to negligence,” he told a press conference after a special committee meeting to tackle congestion at the Johor Causeway held at the BSI CIQ in Johor Baru today.

The online meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof and also attended by Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi.

The media had previously reported that the rat route near Hotel Hako, along Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, would save time for Malaysian pedestrians going into Singapore as otherwise they would have to walk 1.5 kilometres around the BSI CIQ.

Meanwhile, Onn Hafiz said the state government hopes that there will be good news for Johor in Budget 2024 to be announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday.

“All applications required by Johor have been presented to the prime minister, so we are waiting for the announcement. I am confident there will be good news for the state,” he said. – Bernama, October 11, 2023.