Drivers lining up to enter the Rantau Panjang duty-free zone yesterday
The Rantau Panjang duty-free zone is supposed to be a shopping haven, but poor roads and inadequate parking has turned the area into a traffic nightmare during the school holidays.
Rantau Panjang town has been choked with traffic since the start of the holidays as thousands of visitors make their way there daily to look for bargains.
Continue Reading..
Visitors often complain about the traffic jam, which can stretch up to four kilometres from the main shopping area.
Zulkifli Hassan, 49, from Datuk Keramat in Kuala Lumpur, said the authorities should devise a plan to solve the problem quickly before it turns off visitors from going to the shopping site.
"My suggestion is to turn the narrow roads into one-way streets during the school holidays to ensure a better flow of traffic.
"There should also be ample parking. If there is a lack of vacant space, the local authorities should consider constructing a multi-level parking building."
Rantau Panjang village headman Kamarudin Mustafa, 43, said there was a lack of initiative by the authorities, especially law enforcement officers, to control traffic and prevent people from parking their cars haphazardly.
"I pity the visitors as they waste a lot of time stuck in traffic. Sometimes it takes them two hours to travel from Gong Kulim to the shopping area, a distance of just 4km."
