Najib breaks promise on toll rates

Just seven months after Najib launched the BN general election manifesto, he is doing just the opposite on what he has promised by increasing toll rates.

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has gone back on his promise he made before the general election and allowed an increase in toll rates on 15 highways.

Yesterday Works Minister Fadillah Yusof announced that toll rates would be increased on 15 highways, ranging from 50 sen to RM2 next year.

Barisan Nasional had promised a “gradual reduction of intra-city tolls” before the polls and even listed their own achievements in making the promises.

Before the general election, Najib had abolished the toll plazas in Jalan Kuching, Kajang and Cheras.

The Barisan Nasional also announced that it had reduced the toll rates at the Petaling Jaya Selatan 2 plaza on the New Pantai Expressway and at the Sunway & Kemuning plazas on the Kesas Expressway.

In addition to that, BN also had imposed a five-year freeze on toll rates on the North South Expressway (NSE), NSE Central Link, Linkedua, Butterworth-Kulim Expressway, KL-Karak Expressway and the East Coast Expressway Phase One.

Of the 15 highways, 13 are in the Klang Valley.

Toll charges will be increased on the Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway( AKLEH ), Sprint Expressway, New Pantai Expressway (NPE), SMART Motorway Tunnel, Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (Silk).

Also in the list are Damansara Puchong Expressway (LDP), Kajang-Seremban Highway (Lekas), New North Klang Straits Bypass (NNKSB), Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE), Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas), Sungai Besi Expressway (Besraya), and Maju Expressway (MEX).

Only two are located outside the Klang Valley – the Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR) in Penang and the Senai-Desaru Expressway (SDE) in Johor.

The government’s decision to allow a toll rate increase has infuriated road users because Barisan had broken its promise not to allow an increase in charges.

Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar had said that the increase was unavoidable because of the condition stated in the agreements between the government and the concession companies.

The condition states that the toll can be increased every five years.