JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA: A week after the opening of the Sultan Iskandar Building which houses the new Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex, small traders in the city centre are moaning about a drop in business.

Businesses which dot the central town area around Jalan Wong Ah Fook and Jalan Ibrahim have been hit by the decrease in traffic coming their way as many motorists and pedestrians now head for the new CIQ complex, which is about 500 metres from the former CIQ complex at the Causeway .

The most affected are those selling magazines, newspapers and snacks. Most of their customers are people who cross the Causeway daily to work in Singapore.

Many workers face the prospect of shorter working hours.

Shopkeeper Mohamed Abu Bakar, 25, who works at a 24-hour magazine and snack shop near Jalan Wong Ah Fook, said his employer was planning to slash his opening hours by half and only operate during the day.

Sales at the Deen Company shop where he works have gone down by 70 per cent since last Tuesday's opening of the new CIQ.

"Before this, most of our newspapers would be sold out by the end of the day. Now we have to bear the losses of unsold newspapers, magazines and canned drinks.

"If this situation continues, our shop will have to close at night."

Abu Bakar said the shop would normally rake in up to RM5,000 a day, but it was down to about RM2,000 now.

J.A. Residence Hotel reception manager Kamaluddin Mohamadon said the number of motorists who passed through the town area had dropped.

The motorists and pedestrians who used to throng the area outside the hotel are also no longer there.

"Business is slow for many shops around the hotel.

"Many motorcyclists used to stop by on their way to work in Singapore. They would exchange their money for Singapore dollars and buy packet drinks here."

Kamaluddin said the hotel was able to keep afloat because 50 per cent of its guests were regulars who continued to patronise its premises.

The hotel, which is barely 500m from the Causeway, relies heavily on Malaysian tour packages and tour groups from China.

Meanwhile, the flow of cars and pedestrians at the new CIQ complex was smooth yesterday afternoon.

The glitches reported during the first few days of operations have been overcome.

Bus passengers stream in and out of the JB Sentral building, which is connected to the new complex.

At 4pm yesterday, only the approach to Singapore was seen to be slightly congested near the republic's CIQ complex in Woodlands.

The road to Johor Baru was clear.

The Sultan Iskandar building CIQ complex has 38 lanes for cars, 50 for motorcycles and 18 for long-distance buses.