In my last debate with Khairul Anwar Rahmat and Hahasrin Hashim - both from Johor's Umno Youth wing - held in September, I clearly stated that we are not against the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) system, but that the government must be clear with their intention of implementing the system.

The Johor state government should demand for at least half of the revenue of VEP, otherwise we Johorians should reject the proposal downright.

Since Deputy Transport Minister Ab Aziz Kaprawi has made his announcement that the VEP will be implemented next June, it is also time for the federal government to clear any doubts regarding their intentions to implement the VEP.

As I said earlier, we support VEP on the basis of national and social security, while the charge should be seen only as extra revenue. In addition, the extra revenue should be used for local development as the VEP would affect local economy directly.

Therefore, I urge the Johor state government to reject the VEP downright if the federal government is not going to give at least 50 percent of the revenue to the state administration. We must remember that Malaysia is a federation, and not a unitary state.

Besides that, both federal government and state government should also make public how they are planning to use the extra revenue. With the current difficult every day traffic at both the Second Link and the Causeway, the governments should first use it to improve the traffic congestion problem and the efficiency of customs.

We must reduce the time that Malaysian workers spend at crossing the bridges and immigration clearance. These are the most basic things that government should do to improve the quality of life for more than 200,000 Malaysians working in Singapore.

I’m disappointed that neither the federal government nor the state government had dared to require the Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) to provide RM1 million for free shuttle bus services at the Causeway with its huge collection from Johor’s Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) every month.

Hence, governments must take the responsibility to improve the public transportation system itself.

On that note, if one of the reasons to implement VEP is to reduce congestion at downtown Johor Baru, then governments must prepare public transportation that fully covers our state - especially tourism spots so that the interest of local businesses will not be jeopardised.

WONG SHU QI is Johor DAP policy director and Senai state assemblyperson.