RM2.25bil toll compensation could have been avoided, says DAP

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: The freezing of toll rate hikes for this year, set to cost the government RM2.25 billion in compensation, could have been avoided had the government opted to continue with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) plan to acquire certain major highways, DAP said today.


Works minister Fadillah Yusof announced on Friday the government has postponed the increase in toll rates for 2021 for the Kesas Highway, the South Klang Valley Expressway and the Lebuhraya Pantai Timur 2 (LPT2) until next year in view of the economic situation faced by the public.

Delays to toll increases for the North-South Highway, the Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE), the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) and the KL-Putrajaya Highway (MEX), announced earlier, have also been extended.

DAP’s Damansara MP Tony Pua said the proposal by the previous PH government to buy over highways owned by Gamuda Bhd, which would have included the Kesas, LDP, Sprint Expressway and SMART Tunnel, would have allowed the government to save “a few hundred million ringgit in 2021 alone”.

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