Works minister: Tolls not going away yet
Emmanuel Santa Maria Chin
Malay Mail13 August 2018
Works Minister Baru Bian said the government must postpone the move due to the costs involved. — Picture by Yusof Mat IsaMore
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government has decided to delay its pledge to abolish highway tolls in Malaysia due to the state of public finances, Works Minister Baru Bian told Parliament today.
He explained that while the government was fully aware of the difficulties in delivering the pledge, it must postpone the move due to the costs involved.
“The estimated reparation costs for abolishing tolls would be more than RM400 billion.
“With that, after taking into consideration other factors, the government agreed to delay the abolishment of tolls until the country’s economic situation stabilises and allows for it,” he said.
Some PH leaders previously asserted that the removal of tolls would be trivial, saying the government could buy out most of the concessions at minimal costs.
The pact pledged to repeal highway tolls as part of its manifesto for the 14th general election.
The minister was responding to a question posted to him by Datuk Jalaluddin Alias (BN-Jelebu) during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat this morning.
