Najib again taunts finance minister over abolition of toll, this time with video

Former prime minister Najib Razak needles Lim Guan Eng for saying new government will abolish tolls along North-South Expressway.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has fired another salvo from the past at Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, again on the abolition of highway tolls.

Najib, who was the former finance minister, uploaded an old video of Lim saying the toll for the North-South Expressway (NSE) was unfair and should be abolished.

In a Facebook post, in which he attached the video, Najib said: “We have waited a long time for Guan Eng to abolish PLUS’ toll.

“He is the finance minister now, right?

“Surely he is not waiting to be prime minister before doing it.”

Lim Guan Eng’s statement, which was edited by Najib Razak to show the DAP leader’s about-turn on compensating toll companies.

In the old video before the 14th general election, Lim laments that the cost of constructing the NSE, under PLUS, had been recovered but the people were still paying toll.

“By right, they shouldn’t have to pay toll for the NSE anymore, same as the first Penang Bridge.

“If there is a new government, I believe the new government will abolish the NSE toll.”

Recently, Najib tweaked a four-year-old statement by Lim hitting out at the previous BN government’s decision to compensate highway concessionaires for freezing toll hikes.

This came after Lim announced that Putrajaya would pay some RM1 billion to concessionaires to compensate them for the government’s refusal to allow an increase in toll rates involving 21 highways nationwide.

The BN government had also paid similar compensation then. - FMT