[OPINIONS] “Sound the death knell on high tolls” – Is it possible?

After reading the article by Syed Nadzri published in todays NST, I can kind of see where he is coming from however I have to disagree with most of it. Asas Serba “claims” that its proposal will help the government save RM114 billion in subsidies between 2010 and 2038, even better motorists can save as much as RM20 billion (collectively of course!) from lower toll charges.

Lowered toll rates are obviously the biggest selling point but what happens if they don’t deliver on promises once they have secured the rights to the tolls?

Anyways let’s have a look at their proposition:

- low-income earners to be given toll rebates, whereby they will pay one standard toll for each travel and also receive bigger discounts;

- the government no longer to bear the burden of toll-rate subsidy as there will be no rate increases — hence, resources can be redirected to fund other development   projects; and,

- the new highway operators to be more efficient to reduce operating costs.

However anyone can make claims and how is it that PLUS cannot emulate Asas Serba’s proposal and do all the magic on its own? We have all heard so many claims in recent history, especially when it comes to Malaysia. Lets not forget about Anwar taking over Putrajaya, which never happened.

Perhaps the government is over-subsidizing the toll operators and by switching to Asas Serba, the beneficiaries will change. These are just some thoughts that come to mind.

“Above all, perhaps the greatest reservation over Asas Serba and its plan is the question concerning the people behind the company. The cynical remarks that have inevitably cropped up include assumptions that Asas Serba is being backed by “cronies” or “the same old players”, as names bandied about include those of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin and a corporate bigshot named Tan Sri Halim Saad.”

The article continues by saying:

“So what? Does it really matter who is behind the proposition or which school they attended?”

Well to answer that question Mr. Syed Nadzri, it does matter, as it would send all the wrong signals to potential investors! What kind of message are we telling the world, and the public? That cronyism is alive and kicking? Once again are we bringing up all the ‘dinosaurs’ back into the scene? Remember these same names are associated with the Renong fiasco and here they are talking about cost-effectiveness and improving delivery. I don’t buy any of it!

If we are going to allow the ‘sales pitch’ then by all means do it transparently, perhaps an open tender for takeover of tolls? Believe me, we would all love toll discounts, but there must be a better way out of this.

The NST article can be found here:
Sound the death knell on high tolls

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Tags: Asas Serba, Highways, Tolls

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