Khalid: BN restructuring toll since 2002, Harapan did it in 2 years

 

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad took a jab at Works Minister Fadillah Yusof’s remark that the BN government had been working on the toll restructuring exercise for four highways in the Klang Valley since 2002.

He questioned the efficiency of the BN government for taking so long to come up with the initiative when the Pakatan Harapan government managed to finalise the proposal in less than two years back in 2019.

“I was stunned by this response. How many years does it take for the BN government to finalise a proposal?

“We took less than two years. And for the minister to unabashedly admit they had been working on it for 16 years, and all in a secret hiding room, as no one knew about it, one can only wonder if that is the normal level of efficiency that one can expect from a BN government,” he said in a statement today.

Fadillah had previously said the toll restructuring exercise which will see no increase in toll rates until the end of the concession period is not a policy of the Harapan government.

He stressed that the initiative had begun in 2002 when the then-BN government asked the Works Ministry and the relevant agencies to discuss with highway concessionaires regarding the restructuring of toll rates on major highways.

The four concessionaires are the Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas), Western Kuala Lumpur Traffic Dispersal System (Sprint Highway), Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) and the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (Smart).

Works Minister Fadillah Yusof

The Harapan presidential council had earlier said the toll restructuring exercise was a continuity of the policy initiated by the coalition when it was leading the government.

Khalid reminded that Harapan’s proposal was to buy over the four tolls and provide a 30 percent discount to all users during off-peak hours while users would be charged the normal rate during peak hours.

He was responding to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak who claimed that Harapan’s plan was to collect toll fees “forever”.

“Where the shameless man got the idea that we would be collecting tolls forever is beyond me.

“Suffice to say, the toll concession period was not mentioned in the proposal as there would be no change. Toll collection, albeit with discounts, would end when the concession ends,” Khalid said.

Better for govt to take over

Khalid also pointed out that Harapan’s proposal would see the government owning the tolls and raising funds for its purchase through the sale of bonds which would in turn be paid for through the toll collection.

However, he said the current initiative would have the government “surrender the tolls to an unknown ‘non-profit but private entity’ named Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat Bhd (ALR)” whereby the government would pay nothing.

It would be ALR which pays Gamuda Bhd for the stakes in the highways and Khalid said they would presumably also raise funds through bonds and pay for it through toll collection.

“The difference is, of course, the discounts for the rakyat and the fact that ALR is a private entity.

“The phrase ‘non-profit’ can be misleading as overheads and operating costs can be exaggerated and increased to result in a net-zero profit.

“After all, what is to prevent ALR from awarding fat and lucrative projects to its crony companies for jobs undertaken?” he questioned.

He then pointed out that at the end of the concessions, the highways would still be handed over to the government.

He said it would be better for the government to take over the highways now while the tolls are being collected to ensure the highways remain well-maintained and that there are no surprises after the concession period.

“Experiences in running and maintaining the highways prior to the end of the concession period will also give a good and responsible government an insight as to what is required for its upkeep,” he added.

The Amanah lawmaker also claimed that Gamuda deputy group managing director Mohammed Rashdan Mohd Yusof missed the point when the latter claimed the current proposal is much better for the government.

“The whole purpose of the exercise, or so I thought, is not how it would relieve the government of this and that duty or responsibility, but how it would reduce the burden on the rakyat.

“In that aspect, I believe even Rashdan has no answer. The only benefit would be the possibility of a shorter concession period and even that, only if the rakyat uses the four highways and happily pay the present toll rates at a level of traffic higher than originally accounted for,” he added. - Mkini