KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — Contrary to a minister’s claim, the federal government can avoid raising toll rates for some of the 15 major highways that criss-cross the country, the chief researcher for PAS said today.
Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad pointed out that some of the highway concession contracts make it possible for Putrajaya to avoid hiking up toll rates from January, widely seen to be the latest item in a bundle of unpopular price increases to be borne by taxpayers.
The PAS research centre’s executive director urged the government to review all agreements with highway concessionaires to ensure that toll rates are not increased if the companies manage to make an early return on their investments.
“[On] highway concessions, after the first generation, among others that were included in concession, not all, is the clause that is enshrined in agreements where the internal rate of return, if it is achieved earlier, the government should not pay or raise toll rates,” Dzulkefly told reporters at PAS’ headquarters here.
He called on the government to measure the number of vehicles that traverse highways as a guideline for internal rate of return (IRR), instead of fixing timelines for its toll rate reviews.
“This is the matter that PAS and Pakatan Rakyat have been stressing, the issue of toll rate and toll increment structure should be based not on schedule of time, but volume of traffic,” the former Kuala Selangor MP said.
He pointed out that some of the highway concessionaires, especially those operating highways in urban areas, have already managed to recoup their investments based on their records of a daily average of over 50,000 vehicle users.
But Dzulkefly said the public were left in the dark over the average daily traffic (ADT) figures of highways, demanding the government act transparently and disclose the information.
“The public does not know the volume of traffic so the public needs a government that is responsible, transparent because the issue of unfair concessions have happened before,” he said.
Saying that the government should not allow the continued existence of “lopsided” contracts that benefited the concessionaires, Dzulkefly insisted that it should “restructure” the agreements to ensure that the public gets a fair deal.
While acknowledging that such agreements are business deals, Dzulkefly said that the profits should not be too extreme.
The toll rates for 15 major highways are expected to rise next year by between 50 sen and RM2.
Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said it was impossible to stop toll rate hikes next year due to the concession agreements inked between the government and highway concession companies.
He said the government had to fork out RM400 million in compensation to toll concessionaires after it froze a revision of the toll rates that were meant to be implemented in 2011 under the concession agreement.
The minister said yesterday, however, that all future highway projects must be accompanied with studies to determine rates that are acceptable to the public before concessions are awarded.
