50 foreign vehicles denied entry at Woodlands and Tuas after April 1 ban: ICA
Singapore had earlier announced in February that foreign vehicles with a number of outstanding fines for traffic, parking or vehicular emissions offences may be denied entry here starting from April 1.
SINGAPORE — Fifty foreign vehicles have been turned away from the land checkpoints at Woodlands and Tuas since Monday (April 1), after Singapore started its ban that same day on foreign vehicles which have outstanding fines.
In response to media queries, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said that the number stands as of 8am on Wednesday.
Singapore had earlier announced in February that foreign vehicles with a number of outstanding fines for traffic, parking or vehicular emissions offences may be denied entry here starting from April 1.
The Singapore Police Force, together with other government agencies, had earlier said that about 60,000 of these foreign vehicles enter Singapore daily.
While the majority of these foreign motorists are law abiding, “there are some who break our rules but do not settle their outstanding fines for offences committed”, they said in a joint media release.
When the ban kicked off on April 1, motorists had complained about long queues at the Woodlands Causeway and Tuas Second Link.
Several Malaysian news outlets reported that Malaysian motorists travelling to Singapore for work and other activities were stuck in traffic that was “much worse” than usual because some drivers stopped to pay their fines, while others were turned back.
However, ICA said that it had planned ahead for the ban and that “clearance time for incoming vehicles at the checkpoints has not been affected due to the turning away of these foreign vehicles with outstanding fines”.
It added: “All vehicles to be turned away are diverted to separate parking spaces to be processed and as such, it does not affect the flow of other traffic.”
It will continue to monitor the traffic situation at the land checkpoints and seek the cooperation of foreign motorists to settle all outstanding fines promptly.
SIMILAR BAN IN MALAYSIA?
Following the April 1 ban, Utusan Malaysia reported that Malaysian police are not ruling out the possibility of matching Singapore’s move to deny entry to all foreign vehicles with outstanding summonses.
The Malay-language newspaper quoted Datuk Azisman Alias, director of Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department, as saying that the police will discuss the matter with the relevant authority.
"We will discuss with the Road Transport Department to take a similar measure and find an approach for foreign vehicles entering Malaysia," he said.
