Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Kaprawi announced the implementation yesterday, saying that the VEP system had been tested on various aspects and the result was satisfactory.

Despite the RM20 vehicle entry charge, Hamzah said that it was not a significant enough amount to stop tourists from visiting Malaysia in Singapore-registered vehicles.

“It will not affect tourists,” Hamzah told FMT. “It is the same thing for Malaysians who enter Singapore, whereby they would have to pay to enter.”

However, Hamzah proposed for the rate to be lowered, saying Singaporean businessmen who travel back and forth between the two countries frequently might complain about the VEP System because of its cost.

“If they cannot lower the rate, then perhaps they should at least implement an automatic system, such as the booth-free tolls used in Singapore, to make it easier for Singaporean businessmen entering the country,” Hamzah said.

Aziz had reportedly said that more than 120,000 vehicles from the republic have already registered under the VEP system to date.

It is estimated that 60 per cent, out of a million vehicles entering and leaving Malaysia via the Johor Baru-Singapore Causeway and Tuas Second Link every month, are Singaporean vehicles.

The implementation of the VEP system, which was proposed in 2006, was supposed to kick-off on July 16 by charging RM20 for each foreign-registered vehicle entering Johor but has already been delayed four times.

Just last week, Kempas assemblyman Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid Jumat said that the VEP implementation was long overdue, and suggested that the Federal Government charge a yearly fee of RM50 for road charge cards for Singapore-registered vehicles.

He said that Malaysia could have collected RM2 billion if the VEP System was implemented back when he first made the suggestion via a memorandum in 2002.

“We could have collected some RM2bil over the last 14 years, RM400mil of which could have been used to improve our infrastructure,” Tengku Putra Haron said.