Travel lane between Singapore and Sarawak in the works, says Abdul Karim

Abdul Karim (left) speaks at the press conference while MTAC permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee looks on.

By Nur Ashikin Louis

KUCHING, Nov 9: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MTAC) Sarawak is still in the midst of looking into establishing a travel lane between Singapore and Sarawak.

Its minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the travel lane is among matters the ministry is looking into, in order to rejuvenate the tourism industry in the State.

“We will make the necessary announcement once we have secured or gotten it (travel lane) established. Insya-Allah it will be there,” he told reporters at a press conference at Baitulmakmur 2 Building in Kuching today.

Various media outlets yesterday (Nov 8) reported that Malaysia and Singapore will reopen their mutual border with a special Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Changi Airport from Nov 29, 2021.

Under the VTL, fully-vaccinated travellers will be able to travel between Singapore and Malaysia, and be subjected to Covid-19 tests in lieu of serving quarantine or a stay-at-home notice.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a joint statement on the same day, said both countries have made significant progress in vaccinating their respective populations and managing the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following that, both Prime Ministers have agreed that it is timely to progressively resume cross-border travel between both countries, in a safe manner.

The border between the two countries has been closed since March 18, 2020. – DayakDaily