KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — Transport Minister said Anthony Loke today said that it will raise the issue of Singapore denying entry to foreign vehicles with outstanding fines when the two governments meet for their leaders’ retreat.
Loke conceded that the decision to deny entry to vehicles with outstanding fines was ultimately within the jurisdiction of the Singaporean government.
“If they take that stand, it is within their jurisdiction.
“However, concerning this issue, we will discuss it during the coming retreat between both governments; this issue will be raised,” he said after launching the Xtra 20 Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) discount card in KL Sentral this morning.
This comes on the back of reports that the island nation will be implementing the new rule on April 1, going on to say foreign vehicles had accumulated around 400,000 outstanding fines amounting to S$32mil (RM96.36 million).
Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim had also weighed in on the subject previously saying the implementation to deny entry to foreign vehicles was an indication of how bilateral ties between both countries had deteriorated.
Additionally, the leaders’ retreat involving Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, will take place on April 8 and 9.
The event is to replace a previous retreat scheduled for November which was postponed.
On a separate matter, Loke today said that an official announcement is expected to be made soon concerning Firefly’s flights into Singaporean airspace.
“An official announcement will be made soon as we are still finalising the details, and we hope that they can resume their services soon,” he said today.
Firefly suspended operations to Singapore from December 1, 2018 as it did not have approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia to make the move to Seletar Airport from Changi Airport.
At Changi Airport, Firefly, a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, offers 20 daily flights to and from Subang, Ipoh and Kuantan.
