Tol naik, hadiah tahun baru 2014 Najib bin Tun Razak kepada rakyat 1Malaysia...

Tol naik antara 50sen hingga RM2 bulan depan...

Lima belas lebuh raya, kebanyakannya sekitar Kuala Lumpur, dilaporkan akan menaikkan kadar tol antara 50sen hingga RM2 bermula 1 Januari tahun depan. 
Bagaimanapun, New Straits Times memetik Menteri Kerja Raya Fadillah Yusof sebagai berkata, jumlah sebenar kenaikan tol masih belum diputuskan.

Lebuh raya terbabit: Lebuh Raya Pantai Baru (NPE), Lebuh Raya Damansara Puchong (LDP), Lebuhraya Bertingkat Ampang-Kuala Lumpur (Akleh), Lebuh Raya Sprint, Lebuhraya Shah Alam (Kesas), Lebuh Raya Maju (Mex), Lebuh Raya Sungai Besi (Besraya), Lebuhraya Smart dan Sistem Lingkaran-Lebuh Raya Kajang (Silk). 
Fadilah berkata, menurut perjanjian konsesi lebuh raya, syarikat konsesi boleh menyelaras semula kadar tol setiap tiga tahun.

Bagaimanapun, katanya, syarikat konsesi tidak melakukannya dalam tempoh enam tahun terakhir. Justeru, tambahnya, peningkatannya akan dibuat dua kali ganda,

"Kerajaan membelanjakan RM400 juta pampasan jika tidak membenarkan penyelarasan," beliau dipetik sebagai berkata kepada Sin Chew Daily.

Syarikat tol untung besar, tidak perlu naikkan kadar...

Putrajaya harus mengadakan rundingan semula berhubung cadangan kenaikan tol kerana syarikat pemegang konsesi tol sudah pun menikmati keuntungan yang besar, kata Pengarah Strategi PKR, Rafizi Ramli.

"Jika Barisan Nasional pandai, mereka boleh turunkan kadar tol dan naikkan jumlah kenderaan. Lebih pun kedua-duanya adalah berkaitan," katanya.

Rafizi berkata, analisis keuntungan syarikat tol adalah seperti berikut:
 

1. Plus Bhd operator tol di Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan, menerima keuntungan sebanyak 61% dalam 2011.
    

2. Litrak Bhd, yang menguruskan Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong dan Lebuhraya Sprint, menerima keuntungan RM180 juta tahun lalu daripada jumlah pungutan tol sebanyak RM369 juta. 

Rafizi berkata:"Tidak banyak syarikat di dunia boleh mencapai kadar keuntungan sebelum cukai seperti Plus. Harga penyelenggaraan mereka hanya 6% daripada jumlah pendapatan tol. Ini menunjukkan kadar tol hari ini masih terlalu tinggi."

Berhubung pengumuman Plus mengenai kadar tol tidak akan dinaikkan pada 2015, Rafizi berkata:"Apa yang mereka tidak dedahkan adalah tempoh konsesi sudah pun dilanjutkan."

Beliau berkata, kenaikan harga itu juga bercanggah dengan manifesto Barisan Nasional sebelum pilihan raya tahun ini iaitu pengurangan kadar tol adalah salah satu daripada matlamat mereka.

"Saya berpendapat kenaikan kadar tol yang menjejaskan kebanyakan warga Lembah Klang dan Kuala Lumpur adalah cara mereka untuk menghukum pengundi, " katanya merujuk kepada Barisan Nasional.

Ahli parlimen PKR itu juga mengkritik Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar susulan kenyataan beliau bahawa mereka yang tidak suka dengan kenaikan ini boleh menggunakan jalan lain, bukan lebuh raya.

"Walaupun dia dibayar jutaan ringgit setiap tahun sebelum ini, dan tidak memahami kesusahan yang warga kelas pertengahan alami dengan kenaikan kos kehidupan, beliau tetap harus lebih sensitif dengan kehendak rakyat sebagai seorang menteri.

"Menteri seperti beliau hanya membuktikan bagaimana Datuk Seri Najib Razak mengasingkan Kabinet dengan hal realiti rakyat,” katanya.

Cadangan kenaikan tol untuk 13 lebuh raya itu adalah berikutan kenaikan harga barangan lain termasuk kenaikan kadar elektrik sebanyak 15% dan kenaikan harga cukai taksiran di Kuala Lumpur.- TMI

Highway tolls up next month, by 50 sen to RM2...

Fifteen national highways, the bulk of them in and around the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, are to increase their toll rates from 50 sen to as high as RM2 from Jan 1, 2014, newspapers reported today.

However, the New Straits Times quoted Works Minister Fadillah Yusof (right) as saying that the exact amount for the toll hike has not been decided.

The highways include the New Pantai Expressway (NPE), Damansara Puchong Expressway (LDP), Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (Akleh), Western KL Traffic Dispersal System (Sprint), Konsortium Expressway Shah Alam Selangor (Kesas), Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya Maju Expressway (Mex), Sungai Besi Highway (Besraya), Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (Smart) and Sistem Lingkaran-Lebuhraya Kajang (Silk).

Fadillah said according to highway concession agreements, the concessionaires could adjust the toll rate every three years.

RM1 billion paid out to concessionaires

However, he said, the concessionaires have not adjusted the prices in the past six years, and therefore, this price hike will be double the rise.

"The government has to fork out RM400 million in compensation if it does not allow the adjustment," Sin Chew Daily quoted Fadillah as saying.

He said the government had already paid RM1 billion in 2012 to maintain toll rates in 2008 and 2011.

"If the government allows the toll rates adjustment, then it can save RM400 million for other projects," Fadillah said.

Besides the 15 highways, the remaining of the total 29 highways in the country will raise toll rates in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

The ministry last week denied speculation that toll rates would go up by 30 sen to RM1 next year, depending on the highway, but said the matter was still under discussion.

Some parliamentarians oppose the RM400 million compensation, arguing that not all road users benefit from the highways.

Yesterday, Minister in Prime Minister's Department Abdul Wahid Omar said toll increases need not affect everybody, since as road users still have the choice of using trunk roads if they do not want to pay toll.

This drew criticism from several quarters, including Umno Youth, which said toll roads were the only option for many urban dwellers.-malaysiakini

Toll operators earning 'obscene' profits...

Putrajaya should renegotiate for reduced toll rates as toll concessionaires were already enjoying obscene profits, said PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli (pic).

"If Barisan Nasional was smart… they can decrease toll rates given the increase in volume of vehicles. After all they are all related agencies," he said.

According to Rafizi, the breakdown of the profits earned by concessionaires is as follows:

 Plus Bhd, the operator of the North South Highway, earned a 61% profit in 2011.

Litrak Bhd, which manages the LDP and Sprint highways, earned a profit RM180 million last year, against RM369 million in toll collection.

On Plus, Rafizi added: "Not many companies around the world can achieve this profit before tax level enjoyed by Plus. Their maintenance cost is only 6% of toll revenue. This proves that the current toll rate is already too high."

As for Plus’s announcement that toll rates will not be increased until 2015, Rafizi said: "What they did not reveal is that the concession period had been extended."

He added that the proposed hike also went against Barisan Nasional's (BN) manifesto before the May 5 polls, where it listed a reduction of toll rates in stages as one of its goals.

"I can't help but think that the planned toll hike, which affects mostly those in the Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur, is their way to punish the voters," he said, referring to the BN.

The PKR MP also criticised Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar for his remark those who were unhappy with the proposed toll hikes could use other routes.

"Although he was paid millions in yearly salary before and would not be able to understand the hardship ordinary people faced given the rising cost of living, he should be more sensitive to the needs of the rakyat in his role as minister.

"Ministers like him just prove how removed Datuk Seri Najib Razak's cabinet is from reality of the people."

The proposed toll hike for 13 highways follows a slew of price increases which include a 15% rise in electricity tariffs and the assessment rate hike for properties in Kuala Lumpur.

In addition, Rafizi also provided 2013 data to show that use of the highways were up 3-8 percent for five highways - Plus, LDP, Sprint, Kesas and Maju expressways. Of these, the Maju expressway for exceeded agreement targets for the concessionaire, he said.

"Even at current rates they are already making obscene profits. There is no element of subsidy for tolls," Rafizi said, in protesting against a government move announced over the weekend.- TMI/malaysiakini

cheers.