Shopkeepers and businesses surrounding the locale of the Johor Bahru-Singapore border are in awe and are ecstatic about the new announcement. The Johor Bahru-Singapore border is set to be reopened on 1st April 2022, for the first time in 02 long years.
The Border closed down due to the regulations implemented as precautions for the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the closing of the border the finance of the businesses surrounding the border took a head dive. Low Kueck Shin, the Industry president, stated that the reopening of the Johor Bahru-Singapore border releases a huge burden from businesses.Since most of the residents in the area have been vaccinated the government deemed it safe to reopen the border,said the Industry president.
Many of the stores and businesses in the area around Johor Bahru shut down due to the lack of business while the others remained open in hopes that the border would be reopened soon. The community believes that they will need to to get accustomed to the flow of customers again and give the re-establishment process time. The reopening of the border is also expected to provide a few malaysians work in Singapore.
As the businesses around the border failed, their workers returned home and found other jobs. According to the community, tourism has been affected the most. Mr. Hussein, a restaurant owner in Kota Tinggi stated his concerns about the lack of native labor and implored the government to allow businesses to hire foreigners to fill in for the required manpower. The local businesses are hoping for better times now that the causeway is about to be reopened.
Reference,
