PETALING JAYA, May 30 — The Umno Strategic Communication Unit today said the announcement that toll charges would only be reduced to 50 per cent two days before Hari Raya Aidilfitri showed that Pakatan Harapan (PH) has failed to fulfil its own election manifesto.

In a statement today, the Umno mouthpiece chided Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s announcement on reduced toll charges as contradicting PH’s promise of abolishing tolls, citing that the promise was mere political rhetoric meant to pull in votes.

"The announcement today shows that the PH government may have realised that the toll removal is unrealistic and difficult to implement. At the same time, it shows that pledges made in the manifesto were to win votes.

"Surely people coming home to celebrate the holidays would be disappointed as they still have to spend money on tolls. It is definitely burdensome, especially those with a low income and those who use the highways to travel long distances,” said the statement.

The statement cited the RAM ratings agency that said the abolishment of tolls would involve bonds and sukuk certificates worth RM53 billion, which would result in huge losses to highway concessionaires and the government in the short term.

The Umno mouthpiece also questioned the ability of the new administration to pay their debts with the concessionaires, many of which have only just begun collecting tolls to finance the construction of highways such as the Lebuh Klang-Sungai Besi highway (SUKE Highway), which cost RM48 billion.

However, it said Malaysians are used to paying tolls since their introduction via the North-South Highway during Mahathir’s tenure as the fourth prime minister.

"Most Malaysians understand the purpose of toll collections by concessionaires. Even though there are alternative roads, they are comfortable using the tolled highways to get to their destination and understand it is built for their convenience.

"They also understand the high cost of building (highways) in some places, due to problems such as land acquisition and compensation,” the statement added.