Restructuring toll-collection scheme for a win-win situation: Fadillah

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is to ensure that a restructuring of the toll-collection scheme will provide for a win-win situation to the government, toll concessionaires and the people, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said that though the privatisation policy had been ongoing since 1988, the government had made considerable improvements to the terms of the concession agreements to fulfil the people's needs and safeguard the government's interests, compared to the terms of the agreement under the previous leadership.
"It's not viable for us to take over the entire concession; it is better for us to consider a restructuring scheme that we are looking at now," he said when winding up the debate for his ministry on the motion of thanks for the royal address.
Fadillah said the policy of promoting private-sector participation was still ongoing so that government funds could be channelled for other more urgent needs such as the construction of hospitals, education and welfare.
He said the taking over of the toll concession or abolition of toll should consider the government financial capacity as well as the impact on the economic, social and cost-of-living aspects.
"According to the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) laboratory in 2010, the estimated cost for taking over the entire toll concession is RM383.3 billion, with the cost of taking over the concession companies being RM45.2 billion and the cost of toll abolition being RM338.1 billion.
"It is unrealistic to abolish toll at once when the annual development budget is around RM48 billion," he said. — Bernama