KUALA LUMPUR: The government does not intend to review the agreement for the West Coast Expressway (WCE) with the intention of shortening its present 50-year concession period.
Deputy Works Minister Mohd Annuar Mohd Tahir said that the 50-year concession period, which runs from Jan 2, 2013, is reasonable as it takes into account toll rates, as shortening the concession period would require increasing the toll rate.
“Currently, the decision to set the WCE concession at 50 years is reasonable despite being lengthy as it takes into account the toll rate that needs to be paid by the people.
“We can speed up (shorten the concession), but then would the people be ready to accept higher toll rate? I believe that a longer period would be reasonable compared to a higher toll rate.
“The standard for determining the WCE toll rate is based on rate given to PLUS Highway for toll, which is 13.96 cent per kilometre, which is regarded as reasonable,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.
He was answering a supplementary question from Muslimin Yahya (PH-Bersatu-Sungai Besar) who wanted to know whether the government would review the 50-year concession given to the concessionaire behind WCE, which was regarded as unreasonable.
In reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali (Independent-Bagan Serai) on a comparison between toll rates of WCE and PLUS, Annuar said that the government would ensure that the toll rate is not increased.
He said that the government would negotiate with the concessionaire when the time comes on the issue of raising the toll rate, and is ready to extend the concession period to ensure the toll rate is not increased.
“We will do what we can to ensure the toll rate is not increased,” he said.
Works Minister Baru Bian was previously quoted as saying that the construction of the 233km WCE, which runs from Banting, Selangor to Taiping, will open in stages starting next year.
He said the entire WCE project will be completed by 2022, two years later than an initial deadline of April 2020.