KOTA TINGGI, JOHOR - Pedestrians should not be barred from walking to and from the new Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex at the Causeway, Malaysian Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar has said.

He said a dedicated walkway should be prepared for pedestrians between the complex and downtown Johor Baru nearby because not everyone crossing the Causeway would be travelling in vehicles.

He was responding to complaints that the immigration authorities were stopping pedestrians from walking along a makeshift route to Johor Baru.

The new CIQ complex was opened last Dec 16, replacing the old Johor Baru checkpoint.

Since then, there has been much confusion, as there are signs prohibiting people from walking across the 1km-long Causeway.

Policemen are stationed at the Causeway road daily to turn away pedestrians who enter Malaysia from Singapore.

Singapore has not banned pedestrians from walking into Johor.

'I will check the matter, as there should be a route for pedestrians. If the people are really being prohibited from walking there, then I apologise,' he told reporters yesterday after attending an event in his Kota Tinggi home town.

Datuk Seri Syed Hamid, whose portfolio includes immigration, said he would have a discussion with the relevant departments at the complex to investigate the matter.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad has said, meanwhile, that he would visit the complex soon with Works Minister Mohd Zin Mohamed to look at the issue.

Readers have been writing to local media to complain about the restrictions on walking across the Causeway.

Their other complaints include traffic congestion caused by narrow lanes going into the CIQ complex, lack of proper queues for commuters to get onto public buses, and the insistence by the authorities that all vehicles must pay the toll using Malaysia's 'Touch n Go' cards instead of cash.