Blocking traffic, littering, public urination: Tuas factories frustrated by tourist 'bus interchange'

SINGAPORE: Just five minutes away from the Tuas checkpoint, a road lined with factories has become an unofficial interchange for tour buses plying the Singapore-Malaysia border.

Every other hour, large coaches from Malaysia arrive at the two-lane Tuas Link 2. Scores of tourists, with luggage in tow, get off to board another coach to take them further into Singapore.

This constant flurry of activity has become more than an inconvenience for businesses in the area. The buses hold up traffic, block entrances to factories and park against the flow of traffic. 

To make things worse, the tourists often leave behind rubbish and trespass into factories to use the toilets. Some even urinate and defecate in the open, businesses told CNA.

Steeltech Industries managing director Tonie Ong said these buses often obstruct the entire road. 

His company, which deals with construction steel, has occupied 14 and 16 Tuas Link 2 for over a decade, but only saw the problem worsening towards the end of last year. Now, he estimates that up to 60 buses visit in a day. 

"We have to wait for the tourists to transfer from one bus and then our car can move," he said.  

He showed CNA videos of tourists, including children, flocking the road dragging their luggage just metres away from passing vehicles, describing the scene as an "accident waiting to happen". 

Initially, Mr Ong allowed the tourists to use the toilets but when some started wandering around the factory, he had to put a stop to this out of safety concerns.

To top it off, one woman who entered his factory early one morning could not find the toilet, so "she just squatted down to urinate", said Mr Ong, who walked in on the woman in his office corridor. 

Workers of Mastergrip Adhesives, the factory next to Steeltech, have also found human faeces in the grass patch near its gates, said its director Tommy Ong.

This was an isolated incident and he does not know if a tourist was behind this. Still, the frequent appearance of tour buses blocking the entrance to his factory has also irked him.  

"Every time when they come here, they take the luggage here, the whole road is blocked up. What happens if we also need orders from our suppliers?" he said. "We feel very frustrated."

BUSES IDLING, TOURISTS LEAVING RUBBISH

Across the road, chemical plant EMK Technologies, which moved to Tuas Link 2 in 2021, shuts its gate to keep tourists out. But some are undeterred and simply push the gate open. 

The company's business director Terry Yap said up to nine tour buses at a time could be on the road.  

"The safety is the terrible thing. They do the transfer in the middle of the road. Although this is not a very, very heavy traffic area, (there are) still a lot of trucks and vans moving around," said Mr Yap, adding that he told the tourists to provide feedback to their tour agencies. 

After repeated incidents with bus drivers obstructing his gate, Mr Yap nearly got into an altercation with one when tempers ran high. 

"This is common sense, you're blocking my entrance. They just don't care," Mr Yap said, adding that suppliers with 20-foot containers find it difficult to enter and exit his premises with buses in the way. 

When CNA visited Tuas Link 2 on two occasions last month, this reporter saw three to four buses idling at the side of the road. Some waited for more than half an hour to pick up tourists and others completed the exchange within minutes.

Coaches that offloaded passengers had Malaysia licence plates, while those picking up passengers had Singapore licence plates. 

The buses would park at a recess at the end of the road, at the entrance to heavy machinery supplier Sia & Yeo Heavy Equipment. Some parked side by side to transfer passengers.

"We need to wait for the passengers to move away and then when you horn they don't care. And they throw rubbish everywhere, attracting a lot of crows," managing director Sia Keok Muie said in Mandarin. 

Tourists and bus drivers also left behind cardboard and styrofoam boxes, plastic bags and bottles on the grass verge. 

EMK Technologies' employees also found a plastic bottle – stuck in plants near the company's gate – filled with what appeared to be urine.

BUS DRIVERS AWARE OF COMPLAINTS

No one CNA spoke to knew how the unofficial interchange came to be, but many said it started even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.  

Bus drivers at the location said they were simply following instructions from their tour agencies. They declined to be identified for fear of jeopardising their jobs, but said they were aware of complaints. 

These drivers said that the tourists they ferried were mostly from China who would tour Singapore before heading to Malaysia. 

After the Malaysia leg of their journey, these tourists would return to Singapore where they would fly out from Changi Airport. 

Malaysia bus drivers who cross the Causeway early would end up waiting at Tuas Link 2. Likewise, Singapore buses could wait up to a few hours if Malaysia buses are delayed, one driver said. 

"There's nowhere else to stop, it's been like this for over 10 years," he said in Mandarin. "It's either this road or the one behind."

"When people ask me to stop blocking the road I will circle the area and come back when there are less cars and I won't block anyone."

Malaysia bus drivers said they were not allowed to fetch passengers directly to the airport, and that tourists could not fly out from Johor Bahru due to the limited flights available. 

Tour agencies of the Malaysian buses said they were unaware of the complaints when CNA contacted them and expressed surprise. 

Ms Boo Han Sin, the director of Malaysia-based Apes Holiday, said the company went through agents who provided the "point-to-point" transfer. 

Similarly, Malaysia tour operator Spring Travel Services said buses used to drop passengers off near the Tuas Link MRT station before it was constructed. This changed to Tuas Link 2 road after the station was completed and buses could no longer stop there. 

Director Sai Narayana said his buses would drop passengers at Tuas Link 2 a few times a year, with travel agents from Malaysia and Singapore arranging the details. 

LOCATION CONVENIENT 

Singapore coaches spotted at Tuas Link 2 bore tour agency names such as Sun-Gee Travel, FlyTrip and Khim Seah Travel & Tours. All were licensed travel agents under the Singapore Tourism Board.

Sun-Gee Travel declined to answer queries. Khim Seah said the company was not aware of complaints.

"All along we have been requested to fetch them there in the past," said senior manager Roger Tan, adding that the company has been doing so from as early as 2017. 

Similarly, FlyTrip – officially registered as Easy-Fly Travel – said the issue had been ongoing for more than 20 years. The company said that its buses used to stop at an interchange some five minutes away from Tuas checkpoint but this was no longer available. 

The company's general manager, Ms Tan, pointed out that transfers through Woodlands checkpoint were done in a designated car park, but that Tuas did not have such a location. 

"We can't do much. We are only a travel agency ... the government needs to give us a solution. If the government tells us that we have to go to a location, then we will go there," said Ms Tan, who declined to give her full name. 

Ms Tan said tourists may have left trash by the bins when the bins were too full, and that FlyTrip and bus drivers would ensure that passengers do not urinate or defecate by the road side. 

She added that customers from her tour agency would not wander around the area or enter premises as the company owns its own fleet of buses, so buses would be punctual and transfers would be quick. 

Echoing FlyTrip, Ms Summer Neo, the director of a coach operator, said the transfers used to take place at Tuas bus interchange but the authorities put a halt to this after the area became congested. 

She too suggested that the authorities look into a proper interchange where buses can do their transfers. 

Asked why Tuas Link 2, Ms Neo said it was "convenient" for transfers and drivers had not complained about the area.  

"If (the authorities) can arrange an alternative, why not? If they have a place, toilets, facilities, then it's okay," said Ms Neo, who asked for her company not to be named. 

SEEKING HELP

Mr Ong showed CNA his email correspondence with the authorities and screenshots of a ticket he lodged on OneService – a government app that collects feedback on municipal issues – at the behest of an agency officer. 

After the businesses' complaints, a parking warden visited the area to check for parking violations. But bus drivers would leave once they see the warden and return later, Mr Ong said. 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) told CNA it will work with other agencies such as the National Environment Agency to take action against those who do not comply with regulations. It also plans to engage local tour operators over the situation. 

"Members of the public who encounter instances of illegal parking and other traffic violations and disamenities (e.g. littering) can report the offences via the LifeSG or OneService applications, and our OneMotoring portal," LTA said.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Aug 7), LTA said it found vehicles parked illegally around Tuas Link 2. This was during enforcement operations with the National Environment Agency (NEA) that started last week.

A total of 25 tour buses and coaches were booked for illegal parking offences, it added.