KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 ― The Penang bridge's toll is cheap and has remained such since it was completed in the 1980s, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
Dr Mahathir, who is the country's longest-serving prime minister, said the bridge's toll rate of RM7 is cheaper compared to that imposed on similar structures in other countries.
“In Japan, the fare to use the bridge one-way is RM270, and over RM500 for a return trip, but we have the Penang bridge toll rate that is RM7 since it was built in the 1980s, it didn't go up at all.
“I find although there are complaints because of toll rate that is too high, but this is two-way, we pay RM7, while for a bridge in Japan, the toll rate is over RM500,” he said in his first Policy Talk session which was aired live over the former prime minister’s official Facebook account.
Dr Mahathir did not specify which bridge in Japan he was referring to. The Penang bridge was built and opened for public use when he was prime minister of the country.
He said this when responding to a request seeking his comments on the government’s alleged failure to encourage Malaysians to use the country’s public transport system.
The 92-year-old Dr Mahathir was over the weekend announced as the federal opposition's PM candidate of choice should the coalition took power.
In his response, Dr Mahathir said the public would be deterred from using public transport if the fares imposed were high, before going on to cite another project completed during his tenure as prime minister to illustrate how the government can keep toll rates low.
Dr Mahathir cited the North-South Expressway which he had officiated in 1994, noting that its construction costs were kept low as the government had provided cheap loans to the concessionaire and acquired the land for the highway.
This, he said enabled the company to not impose high toll rates, which he said would cause less motorists to use the highway and result the company to face problems in repaying its loans.
“When the toll rate is low, many Malaysians will use and because many use the North-South Expressway, the company may be able to repay its loan and pay for the North-South Expressway's maintenance costs, this is why we find the North-South Expressway can accommodate the traffic during festive seasons,”
While acknowledging there are still many that are dissatisfied with the tolls imposed, Dr Mahathir pointed out that it would be difficult to maintain the highway without such collections and said it was far cheaper compared to other nations.
