In a Facebook post yesterday, Singapore Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said his Malaysian counterpart Liow Tiong Lai had given him a heads-up on the decision, which would be monitored by the city state.

“They have moved speedily and decisively on this idea. I read from the media reports of their decision to do so immediately. We welcome this decision of Malaysia,” he said.

Khaw added that the GVL was a Malaysian customs charge, not a toll.

“It is applied to all goods vehicles, regardless of nationality. There is no such equivalent at Singapore’s end. We do not impose any GVL,” he said.

“Meanwhile, our officials continue to engage on how to amend current tolls, with a view to ease the Causeway jam.”

Khaw said easing the Causeway congestion was a continuing priority for both ministers.

“We discussed this subject every time we met. The recent meeting in Beijing last week was no exception.

“We discussed several ideas on how to incentivise more commuters and goods vehicles to use the Second Link instead of the Causeway, and to do so during off-peak instead of peak-hours.

“We had a productive session,” he said.

Khaw and Liow were in Beijing for the inaugural Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation.