GEORGE TOWN: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng chided the opposition for questioning the 18 per cent toll reductions at all Plus highways which took effect Saturday, seen as a step towards abolishing it.
He said, despite efforts to reduce the toll rates, detractors had questioned as to why the government did not abolish it.
"What can we do? If we want to abolish toll, we have to come out with money to buy back the toll consession...tens of billions of ringgit.
"If the previous Barisan Nasional administration had not gobbled up the money, we would have been able to do that (come out with the money to buy the toll concession).
"But since the money had been swallowed, we had to look for another alternative. We extend the concession period, and at the same time reduce the toll rate by 18 per cent, which will remain until the concession period expires. So, that is the benefit.
"Why didn't it (BN) do that previously? Instead, they extended the concession period by 20 years but did not reduce toll rates. Rather, the rates were allowed to be increased five per cent every three years.
"Why are we (Pakatan Harapan) able to do all this (extend the concession period and reduce toll rates)? This is because we have proven to be a clean government, a fact even acknowledged by Transparency International," he said in his speech at the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency Chinese New Year open house held at SJK (C) Sin Kang here, today.
Present was Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Bukit Gelugor member of parliament Ramkarpal Singh.
It was reported that users of Plus highways began enjoying an 18 per cent reduction in toll rates since February 1.
The discount followed the recent concession restructuring of Plus, which would see both the government and consumers enjoying a total savings of RM1.1 billion this year alone. The government would be able to save RM42 billion during the span of the new concession period, which lasts until 2058.
A Cabinet meeting on Jan 15, this year, decided that an 18 per cent toll discount would be given to passenger cars, buses and taxis (i.e class 1, 4 and 5 vehicles) on the following highways: New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE); North South Expressway Central Link (ELITE); Malaysia-Singapore Second-Link Highway (LINKEDUA); Phase 2 East Coast Expressway (LPT 2); Seremban-Port Dickson Highway (SPDH); and Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE). The discount was also applicable to class 2, 3, 4 and 5 vehicles plying the Penang Bridge.
Elaborating, Lim said the detractors had also justified their own calculations, saying that it was better to pay RM100 for 18 years (the initial expiry of the concession period ) rather than RM82 for 38 years (now that the toll concession period had been extended).
"The detractors had gone around asking people which was better. Of course paying RM100 for 18 years is better but they forgot to factor in two things.
"They did not take into account the compensation the government would need to pay. They also did not take into account that the discounting factor. If we factor all that in, it will benefit the people with greater savings.
So, don't believe them (detractors) so much. They lied and swallowed our money and now they are coming up with illogical justification," he added.