KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) promised repeatedly that highway tolls could be abolished with minimal cost to the public, Datuk Seri Najib Razak reminded Malaysians today.
Commenting on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remarks that the latter knew this was not possible, he also reminded the public that he and Barisan Nasional (BN) were regularly attacked for failing to remove such road payments.
“They had a jolly time squealing from Puchong to Simpang Renggam, even producing videos and posters viewed and liked by millions. Today, what’s the story?” he wrote on Facebook.
“This is what happens when promises are made to the people not out of sincerity, but purely because of the greed for power.”
Dr Mahathir told the press in Bali, Indonesia that abolishing tolls was not possible and that he had known this when PH decided to include this in its election manifesto.
According to national news agency Bernama, the PH chairman also said they made the promise thinking they would not win and would not need to deliver.
Damansara MP Tony Pua previously asserted that tolled highways could be eliminated for as little as RM25 billion, but Works Minister Baru Bian told Parliament in August that this would cost RM400 billion in compensation.
The aide to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng later disputed the works minister’s conclusion and said it would not cost that amount, but did not offer his latest estimate.
