SINGAPORE — The traffic at both land checkpoints at Woodlands and Tuas is expected to be heavy during the Chinese New Year holidays, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Wednesday (Jan 15).

Traffic departing from Singapore is expected to be heavy between Jan 17 and Jan 28, while arrival traffic is set to be heavy between Jan 25 and Jan 28.

With a large number of people passing through the land checkpoints and security checks, there can be delays, ICA explained.

“About 415,000 travellers use the land checkpoints daily and this number increases during the festive peak periods.

“For the Friday before Christmas last year, we cleared 475,000 travellers across the land checkpoints — the highest number we have seen in recent years,” ICA said.

“With security checks coupled with large number of travellers using the checkpoints at the same time, traffic build-up is inevitable and delays can be expected.

“Travellers should factor the additional time needed for immigration clearance into their plans.”

To play their parts and avoid causing delays, ICA advised travellers to “check and ensure that they bring their rightful passports with a remaining validity of six months or more”.

It also reminded people of prohibited items, like “firecrackers, ‘pop-pop’ or controlled items such as ‘bak kwa’, eggs and potted plants”.

“If travellers bring in dutiable or controlled items, they should proactively make declarations to our officers prior to checks,” the authority added.

AVOID QUEUE-CUTTING

Motorists were also warned against queue-cutting during the peak periods and to check on the traffic situation at the checkpoints before starting their journeys.

ICA said it “will continue to take necessary measures to improve clearance efficiency as much as possible without compromising security”.

It added: “Our checkpoint officers will continue to monitor traffic conditions on a real time basis and ensure optimal deployment of resources.

“We will also continue to work with the Traffic Police to ensure road discipline at the critical junctions leading to the land checkpoints.” CNA

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