It appears that the government’s decision to not sell PLUS Malaysia could likely help put a lid on inflationary pressure on transportation costs, The Star reports. The agreement, according to Sunway University economist Professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng, is part of a plan to not burden the public with cost-of-living pressure caused by toll increases.
The professor also added that toll rate increments are supposed to take place once every few years under the original concession, but the 20-year extension, which lengthens PLUS Malaysia’s revenue cycle, was a trade-off so the company could reduce toll rates by a minimum of 18% without losing the ability to maintain its highways.
“It is not expected to be a big issue because the toll collection is still more than sufficient to pay the maintenance costs. According to some estimates, maintenance costs only make up about 10% to 25% of the concessionaire’s total costs,” Dr Yeah explained.
As you may know, UEM Group (a subsidiary of Khazanah) holds a 51% share in PLUS Malaysia, while the remaining 49% is owned by the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF). Naturally, there are concerns that the potential decrease in toll collection could lead to smaller payouts for EPF, but Dr Yeah disagrees.
“PLUS is a profitable and matured asset. It is good for it to remain indirectly in the hands of the government, especially because EPF contributors are members of the public,” he said.
Socio Economic Research Centre executive director Lee Heng Guie also welcomed the move to reduce toll rates. “It is good news at a time when we have to cope with the rising cost of living. I believe the government has weighed all the options and considered the rakyat’s welfare,” he said.
The CEO of Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, Ali Salman chimed in on the matter, adding that a transparent divestment process must be in place before the government engages in the privatisation of its assets. “It is imperative on the part of the government as guardian of national assets to produce and communicate a comprehensive divestment policy framework. The framework should also fully consider the implications of government-linked companies reforms, which may entail asset sales, to the broader socio-economic dynamics,” he said.
Meanwhile, finance minister Lim Guan Eng recently announced that the government will continue freezing the increase on toll fares across the country this year, but told reporters that the move would cost RM1 billion in compensation to concessionaires.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
I am totally speechless, for what the PH govt had done all these while.
First they target the taxpayer’s salary. Then limiting the claim option so you cannot get back.
Pay your cukai to sapot gaji 1.6M civil servant,
Malaysia 1.6mil civil servants, no raging bushfires.
Aussie 250k civil servants, out of control raging bushfires. 1 bil animals died.
majority tak bayar cukai but make most noise. Only 14% of working people pay cukai.
Infact most Government serbants dont even pay cukai because below the threshold
Summore past Gomen minister larik cukai
Time to kick these lying arseholes out of the gomen
Does not matter, both PH and BN have the same majority inside them who are always seeking an easy life with freebies and perpetual bantuan kerajaan forever.
So, does not matter who governs, the people need to be reeducated about working hard and not looking for freebies, contracts, diskauns and biasiswas all the time
Agreed! Time to vote back BN so we can work hard.
vote them back also you still get the same abang2 who want bantuan 24 jam
Aren’t your comments more apt in a website about politics, not one about motoring?
Copy paste: “Janji PH to abolish toll. NOT.
Selamat membayar toll to your parents, yourself, and your children.
Hidup sihat, sejahtera and kaya to Cronies and macai PH”
kalau orang anda tak tipu kerajaan dengan under declare kereta, kerajaan akan lebih berkaya dengan RM300 billion.
Kjaan kaya tapi rakyat miskin apa gunanya? Lagi baik rakyat kaya yg menjadikan kjaan kaya nanti. Ini tidak, PH mau makan semuanya. Harapkan Harapan, Harapan pula makan Rakyat.
Betul la tu. Kan sy dah kata Manifesto sebenar kita; Penipuan Diutamakan, Janji Dicapati. he he he he he he….
Tol turun, minyak turun.. speed Volvo turun. Cukurr
As above or janji dicapati?
“For the record, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave the initial concession to PLUS for 30 years from 1998 to 2018.
“Then in 1998, Tun extended the concession for 12 years until 2030. The latest is the Pakatan government led by Tun extending it for 20 years to 2058,”-THESTAR
you are right, mostly to help bumiputera companies for the building of PLUS.
Everything for them and yet, they cheat LHDN of revenue
Everything seems Harga-Naik in 2020.
I bet that very soon, the blood pressure of Rakyat will Naik also.
i remember.
Last government all harga barang turun.
TunM taking people for a ride.
PLUS had only 18 years left to be able to pay off all its debts. If an 18% discount on tolls is implemented… (and this is only covering private own vehicles)… PLUS toll collecting need only be extended to 21 years to cover all its debts.
YET…. TunM extends it to 38 years… so much more than necessary…! Why is TunM f@Çking the rakyat…??
Plus is EPF rakyat asset. 1Mdb is rakyat Hutang,
1MDB adalah aset terbesar bagi negara Malaysia. Tengok je perkembangan pesat Bandar Malaysia. Ini adalah berkat kepimpinan jangka masa panjang BN dibawah pemerintahan berwibawa Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Saya berharap Datuk Seri kembali semua dan memimpin Malaysia ke arah kecemerlangan semula.
Beg2 Birkin & brg2 kemas ia aset 1MDB juga.
The entire Plus concession saga has finally revealed.
Plus concession was awarded in 1988 to Plus Holding under UEM (90% owned by Khazanah) and KWSP because government wanna suck the blood of the people by charging high toll rate. The project could be funded by Khazanah and Kwsp money and the highway would be free but that meant no free money for the BN crooks.
Khazanah holding and KWSP are both gov statutory body and should not profit from their fundings. However, under the disguise of a publicly traded company of PLUS holding, they can profit from the plus highway.
The plus is charging around RM 0.1275 per km and it’s average cost is around 0.05. Meaning even if toll rate reduced by 50% (to around RM 0.064), plus holding would still be profitable.
Many of the public goods funded by KWSP and Khazanah are free (like public schools, hospitals etc.) and should be so as they are using public fund / people’s money. It is sad the government still wanna profit from the people and keep lying about it (BN and PH alike).
You sound like a combination of LKS and LAPIZI.
where did you get your formula?
PH failed due to lies. BN is proven to be right ever since the old man was removed.
You can go on full denial mode, but atleast try to make some sense so you dont look like a hard core DAP supporting fool.
This was my assignment in Advanced Microeconomics during my master study in 2010. It wasn’t that extensive but I did send it to a conference so you should be able to find it online.
I welcome any constructive arguement and if you want the paper you may pm me i can send it to you.
I dont support toll abolishment. Even advanced countries like japan or Singapore collect toll fees. If we dont pay for tolls, where do you think they will extract money for maintenance? Us. If there are no tolls, more ppl will travel by car. Motorists, tell me, u wan much more congested roads with bad conditions?
Hari ni menang PRU, esok tol dihapuskan. #hancing
Janji betul-betul dah dicapati kata Mat Syabu! Kroni sambung nyawa 20 tahun lagi..
For those who feel disappointed with government not remove the PLUS toll fare instead is reducing the toll fare maybe you should think more in dept before you feel deep sadness. No doubt remove of tolls is manifesto of PH but this manifesto is what I totally disagree although I voted them.
The reason is NOT ALL people passing thru tolls everyday. If remove of tolls mean government gonna use taxpayer money to do maintenance of highway. It is totally unfair to those taxpayers who are not using highway with tolls but they bare the cost. I am not using PLUS tolls so it is not fair government using my money to remove the PLUS toll. For those who complain the toll is expensive then DON’T DRIVE if you not afford. Malaysia car ownership is considered cheap in ASEAN countries as our petrol is cheaper and car although with tax but still cheaper than country like Thailand and SG.
That’s the nature of public goods. Most public goods are not used by “ALL” taxpayers and citizens. Public schools are not used by some taxpayers who choose private or international schools; public hospitals are not used by people who prefer private hospitals.
Based on the data provided by DOSM, it is safe to assume majority of Malaysians use the PLUS highway at least once a year, more than justifiable for it to be considered as public goods and should be free.