On Saturday afternoon, the prime minister gave a speech at a programme to commemorate the “Malaysian Family Aspirations Tour”, an event for government agencies to engage and resolve issues at the state level across the country.
The event on Saturday was the first time the programme was held outside of Kuala Lumpur.
GOVERNMENT HAS HELPED JOHOREANS IMPACTED BY COVID-19, FLOODS
In his speech, Mr Ismail Sabri outlined several initiatives which the federal government has put in place for Johoreans.
He stressed that the federal government’s efforts to implement the land and air vaccinated travel lane (VTL) scheme with Singapore was to reunite family members who had been separated as a result of border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The VTL was also implemented to boost Johor’s economy and tourism activity, he added.
“I understand that 200,000 members of the Malaysian family travel to and from between Singapore and Johor, and now they no longer have to undergo compulsory quarantine in their homes … they just undergo swab tests twice, pre-departure and on-arrival,” said Mr Ismail Sabri.
He added that besides Singapore and Indonesia, the federal government is in the process of announcing further land VTL arrangements with Brunei and Thailand.
“And with the reopening of the borders, members of the Malaysian family who have not seen one another are able to return home, especially for the upcoming Hari Raya celebrations in May,” he added.
In November, Singapore and Malaysia launched air and land vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs).
But in December, both countries froze all new ticket sales for VTL flights and buses between Dec 23 and Jan 20 amid fears of a spread of the Omicron variant.
Ticket sales from Jan 21 on air and land VTLs had been capped at 50 per cent of the allocated quota, but have since resumed to 100 per cent following an announcement in mid-February.
The quota would be progressively increased, the authorities had said.
Mr Ismail Sabri also highlighted that the federal government extended financial help to residents who were impacted by floods from prolonged heavy rain in December and January, including residents in Johor.
He said that the government set aside RM1.4 billion (US$340 million) for flood victims, and gave each affected household RM10,000.
Mr Ismail Sabri added that the federal government will boost Foreign Direct Investments in Johor by implementing programmes to ease business activity in the state.
He explained this included providing translation services and sending relevant officers for training to enhance their skillset in various fields, including digitisation.