PUTRAJAYA: The services provided by the Immigration Department and other agencies at the Johor Causeway have been revised from 7am to 7pm, says Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The shortened operating hours will take effect on April 24 (Friday).

He said instead of the 24-hour operation, operating hours at the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigrations and Quarantine checkpoint in Johor Baru will be for 12 hours daily to serve Malaysians returning from Singapore and commercial vehicles, such as lorries and cargo.

“It was decided at the meeting to limit the operation of the Immigration Department and other agencies at the Causeway.

“Operations at the Second Link will be as normal, which is 24 hours, including for commercial vehicles such as lorries and cargo.

“Those facing emergencies can also travel via the Second Link during the Causeway’s non-operating hours, ” he said on Tuesday (April 21).

Ismail Sabri also reported that there has been no mass entry involving Malaysians coming from Singapore, adding that for the past four days, the average number of returnees is around 400 people daily.

He also said there are around 6,000 rooms at 22 quarantine centres around Johor Baru and the plan is to increase the number of rooms to 10,000.

“This preparation is to meet the demand for accommodation should there be large numbers of Malaysians working in Singapore returning as they will have to undergo the 14-day quarantine before they can go home, ” he said.

Ismail Sabri said the National Disaster Management Agency has been asked to look for another 4,000 rooms around Johor Baru, nearby areas and also in Melaka for this purpose.

It was reported that at least 45,000 Malaysians are working in Singapore, and many of them are looking to return as non-essential businesses shut down during the island republic’s circuit breaker measures that will be enforced until May 4.

Early this month, Singapore announced that most workplaces would be closed and all schools would move to full home-based learning.

Except for key economic sectors and essential services such as restaurants, markets, supermarkets, clinics, hospitals, utilities, transportation and banks, all other work premises would close for a month.