SINGAPORE: An hours-long power outage at the Johor Bahru land checkpoint disrupted travel between Malaysia and Singapore on Wednesday (Dec 6), with long queues at the immigration facility and heavy traffic on the Causeway.
Power has since been restored.
Singapore's Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in an update at 4pm that the tailback of departure traffic from Malaysia at Woodlands Checkpoint has subsided.
The power outage began at midnight on Tuesday, according to Singapore Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao.
Pictures and videos on social media showed long queues at the departure hall of the Malaysia checkpoint building, known as the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (BSI CIQ).
Many travellers were waiting in the dark. According to travellers on social media, the power outage also caused electronic gate (e-gate) facilities to go down.
Other videos showed motorcyclists stuck in a jam at about 8.30am.
The situation affected traffic at Singapore's Woodlands checkpoint, with ICA warning travellers of heavy departure traffic "due to tailback from Malaysia".
"Delays are expected and travellers are advised to check traffic conditions before embarking on their journey," ICA said at 11am.
Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the incident was extremely distressing to users and an embarrassment to the state.
In his post, he attached a photo of a letter from energy company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). Dated Nov 27, the letter stated that the supply of electricity would be stopped or affected temporarily in several areas, including the CIQ complex and JB Sentral, from 8pm on Tuesday to 4am on Wednesday.
It is unclear why the outage continued after 4am.
According to the Star, citing Johor Immigration Department director Baharuddin Tahir, all agencies in the building were inspecting their systems to ensure there were no issues following the disruption.
He added that during the blackout, officers at immigration counters had to carry out clearances manually.
CNA has asked Malaysia's immigration department for comment
Source from Channel News Asia
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