KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Opposition lawmaker Tony Pua asserted today that Putrajaya was to blame for having signed “outrageously stupid” agreements with highway concessionaires in the Klang Valley that gave the private companies the right to up the intracity toll fares by up to 15 per cent.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP further rubbished a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, that the government should not be faulted for refusing to continue paying “very high” compensations to these highway concession companies.
“The real blame for the massive hike in toll rates and the ‘very high’ compensation that the Government has had to pay all this while is because of the extreme stupidity of the BN Government when signing these concession agreements,” Pua said in a statement.
“By awarding these highway privatisation contracts directly without any open and competitive tenders, BN colluded with these crony companies to allow them to collect high toll rates which increases over time.”
He stressed that the government at present also continues to directly award highway contracts without tenders.
Pua further said that the government had the option to terminate lopsided concession agreements by paying the cost of the highway less any grants provided by the government.
“It is an escape clause which is structurally affordable and can put an immediate stop to the escalating burden on the highway users,” he said.
“However, the Government has repeatedly refused to do so in the past, claiming the irrational need to compensate the highway operators for the loss of future profits. The excuse is irrational because if the Government has to compensate for the loss of future profits for terminating a concession it awarded, then what’s the point?”
Toll rates increased between 20 sen and RM3 at highways operated by 11 concessionaires since yesterday.
These include Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway (KLK), Maju Expressway (MEX), Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (SILK), Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE), SMART Tunnel, KL-Kuala Selangor Expressway (LATAR), Sungai Besi Expressway (Besraya), New Pantai Expressway (NPE), Kajang-Seremban Expressway (LEKAS), Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP), and Western KL Traffic Dispersal System (SPRINT).
The announcements come ahead of the Budget 2016, which will be tabled next week.
In August, it was reported that the Cabinet was reviewing proposed toll hikes of between 20 sen and RM1 for 16 highways.
Last November, the government decided to postpone raising the toll rates for 20 highways in the country that were due for increments this year.
Following that, the concession companies were compensated RM558.69 million.
