Southern Integrated Gateway
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The Southern Integrated Gateway (Malay: Gerbang Selatan Bersepadu), is a Malaysian national project involving the construction of the Johor Bahru main railway station and a new customs, immigration and quarantine complex (CIQ) at the Malaysia-Singapore Border. The station and complex will become the main transportation hub of Johor Bahru and southern Peninsular Malaysia. The Malaysian Public Works Department is responsible for the design and construction of this project, while Gerbang Perdana Sdn Bhd is the main contractor.
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[edit] Benefits of the project
The project seeks to improve the traffic flow within Johor Bahru Central Business District. Besides that, the regional road network will be enhanced by the linking of CIQ complex to the North-South Expressway via the Johor Bahru Inner Ring Road. The project will also improve the transportation link between Johor Bahru and Singapore, which is urgently needed.
This project would also attract Singaporean tourists to Johor Bahru and the rest of Johor because of the improved transportation link which increases convenience and decreases travelling time.
This project will also complement the country's aspiration of creating a premier and modern southern gateway to Malaysia and Asia.
The Southern Integrated Gateway is expected to reduce air pollution of the Johor Bahru city area.
A significant reduction in sea travelling time from the eastern part to the western part of the Straits of Johor and vice-versa will indirectly promote security control at the border. This benefit is doubtful at the present because the bridge project has been stopped.
[edit] History
- end of 2002: The new CIQ complex is proposed.
- early of 2003: The Lumba Kuda flats and other structures including Kampung Ungku Mohsin and Bukit Cagar recreational park are demolished.
- 14 February 2003: The Southern Integrated Gateway is officially launched by the then Malaysian prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad.
- 2 December 2003: Construction of CIQ complex begins.
- 10 March 2006: The pilings for the new scenic bridge are completed.
- 12 April 2006: The construction of the new Tanjung Puteri road bridge replacing Malaysian side of causeway was cancelled.
- 26 April 2006: The RM250mil eight-lane straight elevated permanent link from Causeway to the new CIQ complex in Bukit Chagar has been proposed by the Ministry of Works and Gerbang Perdana Sdn Bhd.
- 30 July 2006: The new Johor Bahru maglev monorail transit system is being planned by Johor State Government. It will connect JB Sentral to Tebrau City in the east and JB Sentral to Skudai in the west.
- September 2006: The route for heavy vehicles from/to Singapore to/from the old Tanjung Puteri Customs Complex will be closed to all heavy vehicles to make away for the construction of the eight-lane straight elevated permanent link.
[edit] Main components of Southern Integrated Gateway
[edit] Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex
The Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex will be the largest of its kind in Malaysia, when it is completed. Located at Bukit Cagar (formally known as the site of Lumba Kuda flats, Kampung Bukit Cagar and recreation park), it occupies an area of 232,237 square metres. Comparison has been made to Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Changi International Airport, which are also major entry points to Malaysia and Singapore, respectively..
[edit] Immigration Checkpoint
The immigration checkpoint will consist of different checkpoints for motorcycles and cars. There will also be different counters for those entering Malaysia and those exiting Malaysia. 78 counters are planned for cars entering Malaysia while 39 counters will be designated to those departing from Malaysia. 50 counters each are also planned for motorcycles entering and departing from Malaysia.
[edit] Customs Checkpoint
At the customs checkpoint, 36 counters will be designated for cars (20 for those arriving in Malaysia and 16 for those leaving the country) and 25 for motorcycles (17 for arrivals and 8 for departures).
[edit] JB Sentral
Johor Bahru Sentral (JB Sentral) will be the new transport hub in Johor Bahru, similar to KL Sentral in Kuala Lumpur. The total build-up area of JB Sentral will be 79,000 square metres. It will house a KTM railway station and a bus station, which occupies an area of 9500 square metres. The bus station is expected to handle approximately 3000 bus passengers per hour. There will also be ample parking spaces available at JB Sentral.
A pedestrian bridge connects JB Sentral to Johor Bahru City Square and Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak (Tun Abdul Razak Complex).
A monorail system is being planned to include JB Sentral as its major station. The type of monorail is maglev monorail. Construction of the monorail will start as early as 2007.It will link JB Sentral to Carrefour or Tebrau City Shopping Centre and another line will link JB Sentral to Danga Bay and Skudai. Johor's Menteri Besar, Abdul Ghani Othman, revealed that the monorail project for the state would be in the form of a joint venture between Jalur Mudera Sdn Bhd and the Johor Education Foundation. The companies have been given six months to come up with a detailed study on several aspects, including the costing and the route. Abdul Ghani said that from what he understood, the companies concerned would be able to fund the project through their own sources as well as through operations.A Dubai-based investor is among several potential foreign investors expected to finance 80% of the RM1.3bil Johor monorail project which is set to begin operations within the next three years.
The balance will be sourced from the shareholders of Johor-based Jalur Mudra Sdn Bhd, a special purpose vehicle created to build and operate the monorail under the private financing initiative of the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
The 80% is expected to be raised through the issuance of hybrid private debt securities bonds, which will have a 20-year maturity period. It is learnt that the foreign investors gave their undertaking to participate in the project about two months ago.
Jalur Mudra has since engaged a consultant to advise on corporate matters, especially on the bond issuance.
Chairman Datuk Mohd Rashidi Mohd Noor, who declined to name the investors, said in a press briefing that the company had sufficient funds for the first phase of the project – a 12.5km elevated line along Jalan Tebrau.
“We anticipate return on investment in about 10 years,” he said, adding that this was relatively good for an investment in a railway system.
Similar to the KL monorail project where all the structures are elevated, the project will have eight stations between Johor Sentral, located next to the causeway, and Aeon Jusco near the Pandan Hospital.
“This project will be a catalyst to promote growth along the Tebrau corridor through the appreciation of real estate,” Rashidi said, adding that the monorail project was part of the Johor Baru Masterplan, which included plans for three light rail transit systems, two mass railway transit systems and a monorail.
Rashidi said the monorail project was a local initiative and would include a maximum 30% participation by the state government through Yayasan Pelajaran Johor (YPJ) or Johor Baru City Council (MBJB).
“It is still not finalised whether it’s going to be YPJ or MBJB.
“Although the state has a stake in the project, it may not have to fork out any money,” he said, adding that they hoped to finalise details, including soil tests and environmental impact assessment soon. Rashidi said under the agreement with Beijing Enterprise Holdings, a Chinese government subsidiary which funded a 10-year test by China’s National Defence University on magnetic levitation (Maglev) technology, Jalur Mudra had exclusive rights to develop and pattern both the urban and high-speed Maglev trains.
“This means we can also bid for the bullet train project linking Singapore and Kuala Lumpur as our trains can easily touch 500km per hour,” he said, adding that all it needed was to build the elevated glideways or rail on the divider along the North-South Highway.
Rashidi also said Jalur Mudra’s proposal would cost about RM100mil for each kilometre, which would be much cheaper than other rail projects.
Asked why the relatively new technology was used instead of other systems from Germany or Japan which had a proven track record, he said cost was an important factor.
“Anyway, this technology was created by China’s National Defence University for the government and military based on almost 10 years of trials.
“They have just started commercialising the technology and we managed to acquire it at an attractive price,” he said, adding that quality would be assured, as the Chinese would be held responsible for any failure.
Rashidi said although Johor Baru would be the first city in South-East Asia to use this technology, Maglev trains were already operational in Shanghai for the past three years.
Jalur Mudra expects the Johor monorail to ferry some 98,000 passengers daily with tickets priced between RM1.50 and RM2.60 for the 13-minute ride between Johor Sentral and Aeon Jusco.
[edit] Links to other roads
The RM250mil eight-lane straight elevated permanent link on the originally planned flyover bridge will become a main road from Johor Causeway to the new CIQ complex after the cancelling of the Tanjung Puteri road bridge plan on 12 April 2006. The old checkpoint for light vehicles, old Tanjung Puteri Customs Complex for heavy vehicles and old checkpoint bridge will all be demolished under this project. From September 2006, the route for heavy vehicles from/to Singapore to/from the old Tanjung Puteri Customs Complex will be closed to all heavy vehicles to make away for the construction of the eight-lane straight elevated permanent link.
There will be a flyover connecting this project to the Johor Bahru Inner Ring Road and a new highway, JB Eastern Dispersal Link which links the Southern Integrated Gateway to the interchange of North-South Expressway Southern Route E2 near Pandan.
The construction of the new Permas Jaya second bridge will maybe start in 2007.
[edit] Plan of Southern Integrated Gateway
- JBS - Johor Bahru Sentral
- CIQ - Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex
[edit] Future Occupants of the CIQ complex and JB Sentral
This is a list of future occupants of the CIQ complex and JB Sentral.
- Department of Immigration Malaysia
- Royal Customs Department Malaysia
- Road Transport Department
- PLUS Expressway Berhad
- Royal Malaysian Police
- Keretapi Tanah Melayu
- Veterinary Service Department
- Ministry of Home Security Affairs
- Malaysian Timber Industrial Board
- Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority
- Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority
- Johor's State Land and Mines Office
- Perhilitan
- Johor's State Agriculture Department
- Malaysian Health Department
- Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (MBJB)
- Tourism Malaysia
