New toll rates may be deffered

KUALA LUMPUR: A toll increase announced yesterday by the Works Minister for five major highways may be put on hold following a public outcry and the Prime Minister also calling for a review.

Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohammed had earlier revealed that toll for PLUS’ North-South Expressway (NSE), Sprint Highway, Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (Akleh), Sungai Besi Highway (Besraya) and the New Pantai Expressway (NPE) would be raised simultaneously from Sunday.

The increase for the NSE will be 5%, or 0.68sen per km. For the other highways, the increase ranges from 10 sen to 50 sen.

The increase will affect all classes of vehicles, the exception being buses on the Sungai Besi Highway.

Reacting to the announcement from Pattaya, Thailand, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for a review of the decision, which he said was made two or three weeks ago.

He said the Cabinet would meet today to discuss other ways to compensate the toll concessionnaires.

Under the new rates announced, the toll for the 734km NSE journey from Bukit Kayu Hitam (Kedah) in the north to Kempas (Johor) in the south will be adjusted to RM113.40, up from RM108, while a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh will be in­­creased from RM26.50 to RM27.90.

Mohd Zin described the rates as minimal and hoped that the people would understand that the increases were stipulated in the concession agreements the Government had signed.

“The increase was actually due in January last year but we have postponed it until now. This means the Government has been paying compensation for 14 months,’’ he told a press conference at the Works Ministry yesterday.

Mohd Zin said the compensation amounted to RM277mil with RM177mil going to PLUS, RM38mil to Sprint and RM30mil to AKLEH.

Malaysian Highway Authority director-general Datuk Mohammed Razali Othman, who was present, said some of the concessionnaires got full increases while some only half, as outlined in the concession agreements.

“Any shortfall will be compensated by the Government,” he said.

The announcement to increase the rates comes after the Salak Jaya toll (south-bound) was abolished on Tuesday and the toll at PJS2 (Kuala Lumpur-bound) of the New Pantai Expressway was done away with on Feb 13.

Mohd Zin said the toll increase should not be politicised, stressing that it was a contractual obligation on the Government’s part. (TheStar)