Singapore denies border jams

Singapore denies border jams

SINGAPORE (DPA): Singapore Customs and Immigration officials denied press reports yesterday that they had caused traffic jams in Malaysia by stepping up checks against Malaysian drivers entering the country.

Malaysian newspapers claimed recent severe back-ups at the border were "related to new entry cards as well as stringent Customs checks - this is not true," Singapore Immigration spokeswoman Sharon Wong said.

"The traffic jams were due to the large number of trucks coming into Singapore recently," she explained.

Singapore's Straits Times newspaper has been running daily accounts of negative news coverage in Malaysia, and the Malaysian press has accused Singapore of an official campaign to cut off the lucrative Singaporean tourist flow into Malaysia.