VEP to be implemented this year: Liow

PASIR GUDANG: The Vehicle Entry Permit System (VEP) for foreign vehicles entering Malaysia via the causeway from Singapore will be implemented this year.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said they will conduct 24-hour testings of the system and ensure everything is ready to go before its implementation.
Speaking to reporters at the launch of Johor Port Authority Building by Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin here today, he said the postponement of the VEP several times does not mean that "we are weak in handling the system".
"I was not satisfied with the 12-hour trial runs. I wanted a 24-hour trial run. That is why we needed more time before its implementation," he said, adding that it should take only a month or two to finalise everything.
The trial run for the RM20 charge for foreign-registered car under the VEP system was done from July 1 to July 15. The original plan to implement the system was from July 16.

He said to ensure the system is free from any hiccups, the implementation of the system was postponed to a later date.
With the implementation, he said, vehicles coming in from Singapore, Thailand and other countries will have to pay RM20.

According to statistics, it is estimated that 60% of the one million vehicles which entered Malaysia via the two entry points over the past two months were Singaporean vehicles and more than 120,000 Singapore registered vehicles have registered under the VEP till date.
On another issue, Liow said, more railway links to the port will not cause haulage companies to lose their businesses as they needed the container transportation sector to transport goods to areas within certain radius, especially short distances.

Liow who chairs the National Logistics Task Force (NLT) said he will come up with a proposal to have more railway connections to the port as it is more economical to transport goods on train.

Earlier, he said, Tanjung Pelepas Port which handles nine million TEU yearly will be expanded under the proposed phase three project, to increase its handling to 30 million TEU annually.