MP sees MRCB getting ‘special’ treatment

While concessionaire companies are not non-profit organisations, there must be a limit for profit reaping.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching wants to know what is the mechanism used to calculate toll rate and profit for the concessionaire companies.

She has posed this question in Parliament based on her observance that “MRCB is allowed to collect more toll than other concessionaire companies”.

“The Federal Government must be transparent in handling toll hikes,” she said. “All concession agreements should be made public as soon as possible.”

She noted that the Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway (EDL) is 8.1 km long and slightly over half or 4 km above-ground or elevated.

“It was stated in the MRCB 2011 Annual Report that the total investment cost of EDL was RM 1.2 billion, or RM 148.15 million per kilometer, making it the most expensive highway in Malaysia,” she noted.

“In contrast, the construction cost of 7.7 km Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH) was RM 751 million or RM 95 million per kilometer.”

Kemuning-Shah Alam Highway (LKSA), also constructed in 2007, was at an average construction cost RM 51 million per kilometer or RM 750 million for 14.7 km, she added by way of comparison.

“Highway construction is not charity and we acknowledge that concessionaire companies are not non-profit organisations,” she conceded. “However, there must be a limit for profit reaping.”