SHAH ALAM: Lawmakers and politicians are demanding that Putrajaya come clean on why toll is still being collected on the Federal Highway Route 2 (FHR2), one of the oldest privatised highways, as they claim the agreement to manage it is supposed to end this year.

They said that there had been conflicting messages coming from the federal government on why the concession agreement with the highway operator PLUS Malaysia Bhd had been extended.

PLUS in a statement last Friday said that the 16km FHR2 was part of the North-South Expressway (NSE) concession which was revised in 2011, and confirmed that its concession had been extended until December 2038. The original concession agreement, it said, was supposed to end in 2018.

Selangor Pakatan Rakyat politicians, however, said they had always been made to understand that the agreement would end this year.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad said the extension flew in the face of statements by the federal government just before the 13th general election that it was reviewing all highway agreements to either restructure or abolish tolls.

“This was the impression given to the public by Barisan Nasional, after Pakatan Rakyat said we would phase out some of the concession agreements if we took over,” Khalid told The Malaysian Insider.

He said Selangor politicians had heard that the concession for the Federal Highway would be extended for another 20 years, but had not heard of any formal announcement. The statement by PLUS appears to be the first time the matter has been confirmed.

“We are disappointed because it goes against the impression they gave us before the general election,” Khalid said.

Demands for the toll to be reviewed have also come from Umno, with Shah Alam Umno division chief Datuk Azhari Shaari saying Putrajaya should not extend the concession agreement.

“We have not received confirmation that the agreement was extended. If it has not, we want the government to consider not reviewing it,” Azhari said. “If the agreement is extended, we want the public to get something back. The toll rates should be fair and the extension must not burden the public.”

Whether the concession was originally supposed to end this year or in 2018 will be difficult to verify as highway concession agreements are classified by the government.

A May 6, 2012 report had quoted then Works Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor as saying that Putrajaya was looking at several proposals to either abolish or restructure toll rates.

“The concessionaires involved were positive in their response to the government’s aspirations to reduce the people’s burden concerning toll collection,” Shaziman was quoted as saying in Sinar Harian.

A motorist travelling from Klang to Subang would have to pay RM1 at Sungai Rasau and RM1.10 at Batu Tiga.

On Dec 17, 2013, Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said PLUS earned pre-tax profits of RM2.5 billion in 2011. He had also said that based on the company’s 2011 annual report, it spent RM241 million on maintenance in 2010 compared with collecting RM4.098 billion in toll in 2011.

PLUS said in its statement that rates at Batu Tiga were restructured in 1999, 2002 and 2011 as part of efforts to reduce the toll burden on the public.

“If one were to use the original concession agreement, which states that the concession would end in 2018, the toll rate of Batu Tiga today would be RM2.40 versus the current rate of RM1.10, a rate which has remained the same since 2005.

“No toll increase was implemented by the government or PLUS on Batu Tiga since 2005,” the company said in a statement emailed to The Malaysian Insider.

The company also said it spent RM410 million from 1992 to 1993 to upgrade the Sungai Rasau-Batu Tiga stretch from a two-lane to a three-lane dual carriageway.

About two years ago, Khalid said, PR lawmakers had asked the federal government in the Dewan Rakyat whether the agreement would be extended after it expired.

“They said they would look into it but they did not commit on whether to extend it or not.” — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 20, 2015.