The Malaysian Association of Highway Concession Companies (PSKLM) says that an increase in the toll rate would give concessionaires a better ability to absorb maintenance, overheads and financing costs, Bernama reports.
The association issued a statement on the matter in response to a news article in a Malay daily earlier in the week, which argued against a toll hike. The counterpoint was necessary to clear some misconceptions that were apparent in the story, PSKLM said.
“As it is argued in the article that toll rates should not be increased when traffic congestion remains an issue, the association would like to clarify that there are many factors that necessitate the hike, for instance, highway concessionaires have borrowed and spent hundreds of millions on highway development and facilities.”
“These highways and facilities need to be constantly maintained and upgraded for the comfort and convenience of the users, while new facilities and infrastructure need to be built, toll collections allow the concessionaires fund these expenses,” the association said.
The association said the report implied that toll operators were cash cows and as such, no increase was justified, and said that this was far from being the case.
“We would like to highlight that the Malaysian Highway Authority has estimated that in general, 75% of tolls collected go towards debt servicing while about 20% is spent on maintenance and overheads.
“PLUS, for instance, with toll collection amounting to RM3 billion, spends a substantial sum on loan repayment (50%). The rest of its revenue is redistributed to pay for management costs (13%), scheduled maintenance costs (12%), return to shareholders (10%), maintenance costs (8%) and upgrading costs (7%).”
The association said the scheduled toll hike is provided for in the Concession Agreements (CA) signed between the government and the respective highway operators, adding that the consideration to increase toll rates was not solely based on the agreements between the government and the toll operators but also on the agreements between the toll operators and their financiers.
“Highways are developed under the privatisation concept, the objective of which is to allow vast networks of highways to be built by the private sector at the speed and cost which would not be possible if the development were to be undertaken or borne solely by the government.
“For instance, the toll concessionaires spent nearly RM40 billion on just the construction costs to build 30 highways throughout the country, thus saving the government money which could be spent on other amenities like schools and hospitals. The concept of privatisation of highways also hinges on the notion that only those who use the highway should pay for it, or known as the user-pay concept.”
“Based on this concept, a scheduled toll increase is provided for in the CA. However, there were many times when the government declined the request from toll operators for an increase in toll rates.When this happened, the government paid compensation to the affected concessionaires, and these payments were made from federal funds. This goes against the user-pay concept, indirectly burdening taxpayers nationwide,” it said.
The association said that it was in talks with the government to seek out the best solution for the upcoming scheduled increase, saying that discussions would take “into consideration many issues such as the rising cost of living, our members’ own financial obligations and the need to continuously provide the best services and facilities for a convenient, comfortable and safe journey for everyone.”
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10% return to shareholder not good enough? How many investments nowadays can offer consistent 10% return annually?
High car taxes not even enough?
Increase of petrol fuel still not enough?
BN implanted GST.
Now increase higher toll fees…
Cronies and AP owners what’s else do they ever be enough???
Malaysia is the only country in the world where 1KM cost RM100 million (without land and house acquisitions) and that also using Bnagladeshi cheap labour.
The toll concessionaires who are mainly cronies tell the Government they paid RM100 million per 1 KM and need a 40 to 50 year contract to recoup the cost they have spent.
In UK, where labour is so expensive and costly, per KM of highway hardly cost RM1 million ringgit.
yea,especially with income security as high as these business,10% is good $$
i hardly make 10% last year from investment and i took huge interest risk with margin borrowing
Dear PM, oooii…PM…mana lu??Tolong…tolong…
Please instruct toll companies not to increase toll charges.we need you (?!)…
We count on u (!?) to solve many other problems in this country….
TALK C_O_C_K ..
RM 2.6 Billions can build a whole new north-south highway
That is just one deal that you know off. What about the other hidden deals and stolen money? What about other people who stole billions?
See Taib, got wealth of US$20 billion (Rm80 billion) also, never caught. Infact, he was rewarded by making him Governor.
By right, we should have toll free highways in Malaysia if the few cronies did not steal 90% of the country’s wealth
V r already paying exorbitant amount of nonsense tolls on top of that wan to increase toll rates.
1mdb,gst 6% ,low salaries,hi costs of living,massive corruption,hi crime rates,hi petrol prices with no formula has been given to public,sky fall Rm value,international scandals of governing bodies of Malaysia put shame to Malaysia,n lists is going on n on
Gifts of bn to rakyat
Truly shameful
What happened to Malaysia pls wake up for God sake
well said
you have been awarded a potato
All i can say is, xxxx you, xxxx you, xxxx you.
BN hear you like this….
“Thank you,thank you, thank you”
Hello? That is what roadtax is for!
Indeed VERY TRUE!!!
Ooo.. GST, petrol naik, tol naik, semua benda naik… oooo… how? how?
Sad…. my Malaysia Truly Asia.
This how the story been twisted, HC need the hike. So the government wont be blame for the toll hike.
Hey guys! Try finding an alternate toll-free route on your GPS. Works for me. I save about ten ringgit everyday and it only takes me about fifteen minutes longer to get to work.
The country is going to the dumps.
Until we realise that the people can actually stop all this then the country would have a chance to progress positively.
The current issues surrounding the country now is really scary. Imagine such large amount of public’s money can just be taken with such impunity, and we are just seeing what is available in the media. No one knows how long such activities have been going on.
And the people, well just motoring along like nothing is happening.
Good luck fellas.
Barisan nasional GE13 manifesto:
Gradual reduction of intercity toll rates.
To those who voted for BN, thank you very much indeed…
Changing the ppl who rule us,NEEDED as well
people or party?
Generally Malaysians have a submissive and docile behavior.
You can just increase price of anything and most Malaysians will only vent anger on facebook or twitter, but they accept it.
So we are ok.
Rakyat didahulukan, pencapaian diutamakan, USD700m dihilangkan.
LPPL, do you believes what these cronies said? 50% of revenue go to loan servicing! This really trigger my anger! Which company is allowing their liability rate to be that high!
I have an issue with 13% management fees. 13% of 3 billion is 390 million ringgit.
How many managers and directors they have and what kind of fees are we talking about?
Last time,
BN= Barang Naik
Now,
BN= GST 6% + Barang Naik
Future,
BN= GST 6% + Barang Naik + 1MDB = Bankrup Malaysia
Another bullshit….every year make a billion profit yet they still the same ..bullshiting..
http://paultan.org/2015/07/01/rm5-42-bil-collected-as-toll-revenue-last-year-up-to-90-for-loan-repayment-and-costs-works-ministry/#comments
Less than 2 weeks ago Deputy Works Minister Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin mentioned majority of the toll collections (90%) goes to loan repayment and now another joker association said that 50% of it goes to loan repayment ? Apa LC is this ? What’s next ? 30% goes to 1MDB repayment and 10% into some asshole’s pockets?
untung billion tiap tahun pun nak naik harga lagi ke?
bayar tol tapi kena jem teruk.. improve the service first!!