Cheras folk counting the days to end of toll

KUALA LUMPUR: The countdown to the closure of the Jalan Cheras toll plaza has begun. 

Road users, especially those affected by the toll charge, are counting the days until Sept 14, when they no longer need to pay the 50 sen per way charge.  

Cheras MCA Youth deputy chairman Lee Boon Kok said it was an important day for Cheras residents, who voiced discontent when toll collection began in December 1991. 

“The toll is quite disturbing for road users because after paying the toll, more often than not, they would be stuck in traffic jams,” he said at a press conference here yesterday to mark the 100-day countdown to the closure of the toll plaza. 

Lee expressed hope that traffic would be smoother after the toll was abolished. 

The toll plaza at the eighth kilometre of Jalan Cheras has been a controversial issue particularly for Cheras residents.  

In September 1990, hundreds of residents, led by then Sungai Besi MP Tan Kok Wai, then DAP deputy secretary-general Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye and Parti Rakyat Malaysia president Dr Syed Husin Ali staged a protest against the toll. 

“The toll’s closure is important to me because I had made a promise to the people. When I ran for the general election in 1999, a lot of road users told me that if I brought down the toll, they’d support me,” said Lee. 

“I told them that if it is closed, I would inform them,” he said, thanking the Government for not extending its concessionaire with Metramac Corporation Sdn Bhd (Metacorp) when it expires in September. 

STRATEGISING:Ong conferring with Penang MCA chief Wong Kam Hoong (wearing tie)afteropening an election workshop for Penang party activists at Wisma MCA yesterday.

Also present at the press conference were Cheras MIC division chief P. Perukarupan and Cheras Umno division information head Kassim Bahari. 

He said the divisions would carry out a survey to seek road users’ feedback on how to utilise the space after the toll plaza and offices were demolished.