PETALING JAYA, July 2 — The drastic increase in the entry permit fees for cars and goods vehicles by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) has caused an outcry among Malaysians.

Come August 1, the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) fee for foreign-registered cars entering Singapore will be raised from S$20 (RM51.46) to S$35 (RM90.05) a day, while the Goods Vehicle Permit (GVP) fee for foreign-registered goods vehicles will be raised from S$10 (RM25.73) to S$40 (RM102.91) a month. 

Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong said the increase would greatly impact Malaysians who travel to and work in Singapore.

He said the poor public transport system did not help matters because people would rather drive their own vehicles than use public transport for short distances.

“Public transportation needs to be improved on both sides,” he said.

Liew said approximately 300,000 vehicles crossed the Johor-Singapore Causeway daily, most of which were Malaysian-owned.

“The increase in the charges will put additional stress on the livelihood of Malaysians in Singapore,” he said.

He called on the Malaysian and Singaporean governments to come up with a solution.

Liew suggested that both governments work together to improve public transportation to lessen the people’s burden.

He said traffic congestion at the Customs checkpoint had to be reduced to save travelling time.

LTA said in a statement yesterday the VEP fee increase would not affect buses or taxis.

The Pan-Malaysia Lorry Owners’ Association said lorry operators would suffer the most as they had to bear the cost of increase directly.

Association secretary Anthony Tan said the organisation was caught off-guard by the increase as they only learnt of it via email from LTA yesterday.

“The increase is a bit ridiculous,” said Tan, who said he contacted LTA to find out the rationale behind the increase and was awaiting a response.

“Even if Singapore wants to increase the fees, it does not need to increase it by 400 per cent.”

Tan said local lorry operators were already suffering due to long queues at the Customs checkpoint, where they would have to wait for as long as four hours, burning costly fuel.

On top of that, he said the Singaporean dollar was becoming stronger against the ringgit.

“The additional costs will have a trickle-down effect,” he said, pointing out that 3,000 to 4,000 trucks and lorries entered Singapore daily.

Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching said those who worked across the Causeway and Malaysian children who were schooling in Singapore would be greatly affected by the increase.

“The negative impact will be felt especially by Johor residents as they are more likely to drive to Singapore compared to other Malaysians who would prefer to fly there,” she said.

Teo believed pirate taxis would try to take advantage of the increased fees.

Tebrau MP Khoo Soo Seang believed it would not have a major impact on Malaysians because those who needed to travel to Singapore, such as businessman, would have to accept the charges, while holidaymakers could choose to avoid the republic and stay in Malaysia.

“The Singapore government might have increased the fees to reduce congestion and there’s nothing we can do as it is their policy,” Khoo said, adding that most of the children who attended school in Singapore used buses which were not affected by the fee revision.

The VEP, with chargeable hours from 2am to noon on weekdays during Singapore’s June and December school holidays, and from 2am to 5pm on weekdays outside these two school holiday periods, remains unchanged.

The VEP fee for foreign-registered motorcycles will remain at S$4 (RM10.29) a day. All foreign-registered vehicles will continue to enjoy VEP-free days and VEP-free hours on Saturdays, Sundays and Singapore public holidays, normal weekdays per calendar year and between 5pm and 2am on all other days (these VEP-free hours are extended to start at noon instead of 5pm during the June and December Singapore school holidays).

The LTA said owners of foreign-registered goods vehicles could continue to purchase the GVP at the current fee of S$10 (RM25.73) for July.

However, any GVP with a validity period beyond July would be charged S$40 (RM102.91) a month.