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.