Cabinet froze highway takeover plan? No, no, no, says PM

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has dismissed a Singaporean newspaper report which claimed that the government's plan to take over four tolled highways was put on hold because it lacked cabinet consensus.

"No, no, no. There is no such thing," Mahathir told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

"Cabinet was told about this plan by the finance minister and we have not said no. But it is the date of the implementation that is going to be decided by the cabinet."

The Straits Times report, which cited an unnamed cabinet minister, claimed that Putrajaya's plan to take over the four private-sector owned highways was "on hold pending review" because it was not greenlit by the cabinet.

The Prime Minister's Office had issued a statement on Feb 23 to state that negotiations were underway to acquire Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP), Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat (Sprint), Lebuhraya Shah Alam (Kesas) and Smart Tunnel.

By June 21, the owners of the four highways had received their takeover offers. Gamuda Bhd, Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd (Litrak) and Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Holdings Sdn Bhd (Sprint Holdings) have accepted the government's offer.

Despite having announced the move in February, Mahathir appeared mildly apprehensive about the plan which was put forward by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

"The Finance Ministry seems to be convinced it can be done. Our problem is that we don't have the money but the finance minister says by charging during the peak hours, they can raise enough funds to pay for the acquisition of these four highways.

"We have to see whether that will be enough or not," he said.

According to the Straits Times report, the Works Ministry - which oversees public infrastructure - was coming up with its own proposal to consolidate all 19 highways into a single company.

Both the Finance Ministry and Works Ministry's plan aims to reduce toll rates, which was promised in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto. -Mkini