Government's 11 points explanation to buy over highway concessions
Below is the full statement issued by Prime Minister's Office
1. Pakatan Harapan has promised in its election manifesto to take steps to acquire highway concessions and abolish toll collection in stages, in accordance to the terms of the concession agreement.
2. This is to alleviate the high cost of living for commuters.
3. I am pleased to announce that as a first step, the Government has commenced talks with Gamuda Berhad to negotiate the acquisition of highway concession in which the company has a majority stake.
4. The highways are the Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP), Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat (SPRINT), Lebuhraya Shah Alam (KESAS) and SMART Tunnel.
5. Upon successful takeover of the highways, the Government intends to abolish the existing toll mechanism.
6. In its place, a ‘congestion charge’ will be introduced where commuters will only pay a ‘congestion charge’ equivalent to the existing toll for 6 hours of “peak” period a day.
7. During the “off-peak” period between 11pm and 5am, commuters will travel on the highway for free.
8. At other ‘normal’ travelling hours, commuters will enjoy discounted rates up to 30% compared to existing toll rates.
9. The revenue collected from the ‘congestion charge’ will go towards the operations and maintenance of the highways and repayment of borrowings.
10. Any surplus collected will then be channeled into a public transportation fund to improve the quality of public transport in Malaysia.
11. Further details on the proposed exercise will be announced by the Finance Minister at the appropriate time.
PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE PUTRAJAYA 23 FEBRUARY 2019
