The issue of toll-free highways has been brought up time and time again but it looks like motorists might not be able to enjoy such pleasures. In a report by Bernama, prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said that it’s not possible to have highways without the collection of toll.
He added that he was personally against the idea of toll-free highways, which was one of the pledges made in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) election manifesto. “We made the manifesto thinking we would not be the government. Now we are the government, and this manifesto is a big burden,” said Mahathir.
“But, at that time, I was against it. I know to have a freeway… you cannot. The only way to have freeways and no toll is to raise the price of petrol,” he added.
The premier also questioned who would maintain the roads or build new ones should the government abolish toll collection. “You tell the private sector to do the roads. They want to make money, but if you don’t have toll, how can you make money?” he said.
Citing the situation in England, Mahathir said the country imposed a heavy tax on petroleum in lieu of toll-free roads, which is hiked whenever the price of petroleum increased.
“So, they use that money. But if you get the money out of the sale of petroleum, people who do not use the highway also have to pay. But here, [highway] users pay. This is our belief. The users pay; those people who are not using [the roads], why should they pay?” he explained, adding that a review of PH’s pledges is needed as some of them would impose great losses if implemented.
It was previously reported that the government would not rush the abolishment of toll collection due to its impact on stakeholders as well as the current financial climate. On the latter, the government recently denied claims that it would cost an estimated RM400 billion to pay off concessionaires in the country.
The price of RON 95 petrol has remained at a constant RM2.20 per litre since May 30, along with Euro 2M diesel at RM2.18 per litre and Euro 5 diesel at RM2.28 per litre. Only the price of RON 97 has fluctuated over the past few months, with the current price set at RM2.79 per litre.
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Aik. Then why back then promised to abolish all tolls AND much reduced fuel prices? Were you taking us for fools just to win at all cost?
Cuz they can
N majority of Malaysians are gullible and uneducated
So no problem.
We voted you to clamp down 1MDB corrupt and uphold the rule of law as promised
Keep it up Tun.
Just revert to pre Oct 2015 toll rates. Malaysians will be happy
abolish tol orso abolish 1.6M public servant
Happy- good ah so no cops around to catch me if kick your ass, no ambulance to take you to ICU, and no bomba to put out the fire when I burn your house down.
Abolish only lazy public servant and useless bodies like Jakim.
so now who will clamp down the 1990s forex scandal?
Why promised? Because before election, the they thought to the country has got money. You dun read kah?
what scandal? u dumb people only talk about 30 billion paper loss but what about the gain of RM50-55 billion. Thats business decision governor & fm have to make sometimes u loss some sometimes u gain.
Shadow cabinet?
I will be happy already if Pakatan can tighten on corruption and crime execution.
Gip chance beb … Pipu oso mau bayar hutang kad kredit wei.
This post sure get a lot of comments condemning Tun M. But I want to ask one question.
5 years ago we were promised car prices would reduce by 30%. Why nobody made noise then? Now can bising so much but when rakyat was played out 5 yrs ago, all quiet like tikus
Remember average Malaysian just pay just few ringgit in toll. Does not make you so poor. But your car loan takes a huge chunk of your salary.
Our car prices are 3X global car prices. If we are paying Rm1000 per month on car loan, by right, it should be RM330 per month if we had global car prices
So don’t make so much of noise when 5 years we waited and all kept quiet then about the promise to reduce car prices by 30% that became capati
Why bother dredging up old history? The previous government didn’t honour their promise so they got booted out. Is that a reason dor Pakatan must dishonour their promises as well? So would it do us justice to boot them out the same?
I voted not for manifesto but I voted to kick a Corrupted Government out. I think most Malaysians voted to kick a corrupted Government out.
So, PH can take their time in fulfilling their manifestos. 63 years of corruption cannot be repaired in 5 months.
Keep telling that to yourself. There are voters out there that voted them in because they were gullible to believe that their cost of living went up becoz of GST, 1MDB and (a lot of) handbags.
If TM can admit they just tabur janji coz they thot they wouldn’t win, who’s to deny the possibility of the so called RM1T debt was just conjured to cover their non-delivering asses?
What’s in ur drink, bro? Who do u think bring these people back to power? It’s the rakyat la not by military coup. So, when rakyat not making noise on the street doesn’t mean we agreed on everything coz we people voice it out on ballot papers. Ur argumenton toll spending n car prices is a joke. Now u talk exactly like john but devoid of facts.
Red herring, or in local terms speak pusing-pusing from main topic.
Without sell off handbags, toll-free roads not possible ah
If you can’t afford the loan, why buy expensive car. The choice is yours. Why let the car loan burden you so much. Toll on the other hand is not negotiable.
You don’t like you Keluar la so much complain for what . If no toll money how you gonna maintain those highway roads use ur moms money ah
Why does this sound so strangely familiar? Ahh, the same sht different smell analogy, I see….
Normal thing for bashers they practise biar papa asal bergaya, lol
They just tabur janji….
He did just that. Now he’s saying “So what? Har har har”
Only ONE (I repeat ONE!) PM had ever worked to remove the tolls and we HAD (I repeat HAD!) to remove him from office, all because of a lie against him. I really regret my decision that fateful day. I pray to my Maker I will get a chance to do it right this time.
Contrary from u, i did not regret. Just becoz cannot abolish toll charge, no big deal for me compared to the lies and arrogance of previous gov personnel. My vote was about teaching every politicians to be humble to rakyat and dont treat my tax money like their harta pusaka from their own ancesstors.
Like what current ones doing now right?
Ur vote only teaches politicians that voter memories r short and often nostalgic for the past esp when the top leader showered so much attention, beatings, gassing, and incarceration onto the rakyat. Yes, saya rindu zaman itu when politics was so much more interesting.
U made the right choice.
Add some more….talk like roti making roti canai, flip here and twist there.
you must know ,he tried to sabotaj DSAI in PD election in silence. that time is not suitable to talk about this. Please wake up Malaysian !
The menefesto is cars cheaper by 30%.
Manifesto is not a promise
I agree….. its like GST, you use, you pay. However, tolled roads should be limited to elevated highways and the NSE…. roads in the city such as Sprint (excluding Kerinchi Link and Penchala Link), having toll does not elevate traffic congestion because its still congested at the toll and alternative roads are narrow and definitely cannot accommodate the traffic volume. Sprint should return back to the Govt sector.
The whole LDP, Kesas, Damansara tol is ripping people
This I got to agree. Blardy hell it’s not a highway at all. Always jam and certain sections have only 2 lanes which is no different than a main road in other areas.
Isn’t both abolishment of toll and lowering petrol price were presented on the same page of screen and paper? So much about accusing Donald Trump for being fickle minded.
Let be honest,It take times for the new G to fulfilled what rakyat want.
The damage done by the previous G is so bad will take time to recover. We’ve been tolerate for years already. ROME WAS’nT built in a day.
Let’s see. If they are dishonest & flippant when making promises, how can we trust them with our future?
At least he is honest to admit he can’t fulfill his promise, can Najib do the same? You rather trust our future with some guy who hides hundreds of handbags and jewelries in his home?
LOL another gullible idiot spotted!! “The damage done by the previous G is so bad” HaHAHAH you still haven’t caught on that it’s one big lie so that the manifesto doesn’t need to be fulfilled??
If the “damage done is so bad”, then why do you think that projects where D & M got their fingers in the pie like LRT3, MRT2, etc. are secretly having price hikes behind the scene? And our FM’s proxy company is doing the PTMP with almost 100% price hike while telling detractors to shut up.
Damage is so bad, huh? Seriously, all political parties must tap on these ignorant voters to win GE15..
Damn Shallow thinking, is more complex than you think. To demolished u need to spend the money…where is the money come from? Yes agree with about the LRT and and our FM. This monkey stand to close to the tree and cannot see the forest. Next time please use a human brain to think. You’ll not understand if you keep using your monkey brain!!
Uneducated guy who can’t write proper sentences detected..
Barnum wrote, theres a fool born every minute in the world. Too bad most of them were concentrated in MY and they reached voting age so ngam to bring him back.
Wow – with an argument like that, there’s no need to argue!
/sarcasm
In PHland, only they r right everyone else who has a diff opinion r either wrong or a BN sapoter. There is no democracy except what is defined by them. There is no freedom except what is defined by them. There os no justice except what is defined by them. They r Right and u r Wrong.
Which a typical hallmark of leftwing nut cases like third wave feminists, ultra liberals and SJW a.k.a. NPCs are like.
Bye lah PH. Seriously. Bye.
U-turn again.
“We made the manifesto thinking we would not be the government. Now we are the government, and this manifesto is a big burden” – Tun M.
1 term govt only la..
I think I would 100% support to abolish the tolls within Klang Valley as we need to travel almost daily and sometimes more than 2 times through the same toll station in a day.
However, the tolls within national highways should not be abolished totally but instead reduction of toll prices would be preferred.
This i agree. If cannot abolish tolls, reduce prices!
Wow! Politician.
no need abolish all toll, just abolish the toll for those Open system toll like LDP, NPE or Duke.
Closed system charges by the distance and people cannot simply enter & exit without paying.
Open system charge a fixed rate at certain places but people can enter & exit where ever.
For Open system, people can enter after the toll booth but exit before the next one. So they are using the highway but not paying for it, yet the highway still need to be maintained due to their usage. Who will pay for that?
Others have to pay for those free-riders and thus the toll rate for these Open system toll is rather expensive and keep on increasing.
Those Open system toll in KL should be abolish or transfer to Govt control.
how about reduce the charges on toll for the start, and some area which have low volume = abolish it.
I feel like a fool. A naive fool who was used just for my vote. Wish I could go back and change. It was my first time voting.
Pre and Post GE14, all YB sound different already! We rakyat is smarter now. We know it is a need of change, we still have chance to change again in GE15! No change, GE14 will be end of democratic system. We hear you clear.. cut all cost, build 3rd national car, via private investor who is the investment arm of GLC. We continue see racist topics been touch and touch again! No worry, we rakyat will hand this topic well in GE15!
Motorcycles that use the highway should pay toll too. Then reduce toll for other classes of vehicles. Don’t tell me the super bikers can’t pay.
I’ve always known that they’ll not be able to fulfill their manifestos.
I chuckled when Lim Guan Eng one-upped Najib on abolishing Penang Bridge toll.
What surprises me is how creative these politicians justify their moves. From 1 trillion debt, tabung harapan gimmick, to asking us men on the street to tighten our belts because the the national coffer is in dire state (at the same time putting in much-needed resources into 3rd national car project, and over in Sabah, CM Shafie Afdal just appointed 19 political secretaries to do what only god knows).
Their peculiar behavior never ceases to amaze!!
Oh well… Malaysia have chosen #MalaysiaBaharu
I love Malaysia!!
Agreed on difficult to abolish toll but at least reduce the rate..
pay toll use highway is ok…just the matter of toll rate…it shouldn’t burden the people
Believing in a politicians promises is like believing that unicorns exists.
dont forget KWSP is quite a big shareholders to most of the paid highways. abolishing them without proper plan and replacement are just shooting every rakyat own coffer.
Then why make such promises? Because it wasn’t THEIR money back then? So now they’re in Govmnt, they found that it wasn’t so easy to keep those promises? Wasn’t that the same explanation given by BN for their underwhelming manifesto?
well, that was before they took up the government and then found most of us are actually in near bankrupt situation right? anyhow Malaysian voted for better Malaysia or manifesto candies? the one thing we are looking forward are the once big corrupted persons being drag to justice. if Malaysia need to be financially and economically strong again, takes times. not just a flick of a switch
Hahaha another gullible fool spotted! You seriously think our country is going bankrupt??? Man, you guys really deserve the incompetent government that you chose..
Bapak was right about 1 thing. MY pipu education level is going down and this really reflected on the Gov that they have chosen. There is no Hope in this country anymore, unless it corrects its course in 4 years time.
Halo brader, you don’t know ah ? Mahathir calculates that 1 trillion debt to include your housing and car loan also, company loan also he count in. What has that got to do with government’s credit position?
You must read more, don’t just sit between his legs whenever he takes a piss.
The stupid rakyat wanted Malaysia Baru, but instead they get Malaysia Lama, even older than Malaysia under Najib.
u chase away a wolf but here come the tiger.
Catch 22. Either way the Rakyat lose.
So much for the election ‘moneyfiasco’.
Hey old man, i know its hard to abolish tolls, there is pros n cons,but even if you cannot abolish toll atleast atleast please please reduce the rate by 50%, if you cant abolish it!, help the rakyat, we dont want to hear something like ‘we cant’ ‘its impossible’ we are the ‘boss’ here , we vote you guys, it you cant do it then its nothing better than previous gov.
No it’s worse than the previous gomen. The previous gomen was on track to fulfill their dour and boringly realistic manifestos but got abruptly stopped by GE14. This gomen simply main janji saja…
LoL
It is okay to privatize the highway – Build, Operate then Transfer. The problem is that there is no transparency in the concessioner agreement. Is the cost just and fair? Are we paying too much? Why collection period be extended?
Sarawak dont have toll but we hv to pay the toll in semenanjung? Produce petroleum some more. Car also more expensive here.haha…what a joke.
Most of us ubderstand d country financial problem created by d old govt.It’s time d govt.take a faster step by recovering all those money lost thro corruption.Charge those cases that can recover lost money n confiscate it without mercy.Use d money first instead waitibg to tax d rakyat .Those corrupted r diverting d money ,spending n enjoying it.So, no more political talk.Go n try to recover as much as possible to deal with d problems.No more unnecesssry delay.
yes, also reduce redundant government servants as promised!
HAHAHAH this is another example of a stupid gullible voter!!!
Malaysia’s GDP is over RM1.2 trillion. That’s *TRILLION*.
The “corruption” and money that will be confiscated? Currently the charge is RM42 million. RM2.6 billion is an allegation that is not backed by paper trail yet.
If you think the theft of RM42 million or RM2.6 billion can jeopardize an economy of RM1.2 trillion and make the country bankrupt, you’re really a special kind of stupid.
U think this is the only charge? Then u must be a gullible fool. This is only the beginning and more charges are coming for him. I would like to see how he can be innocent of all the charges. Yeah, 42M or 2.6B can’t do much damage but see how many years this guy has been in power as FM & PM? U still think he can’t suck the country dry?
before win, everything possible, after win, everything impossible. Rule of useless government.
So this is empty promises? Another empty promise is to turn around the country? I told ya, politicians cannot be trusted. After all the leaders of PH are ex-UMNO. What do u expect?
The price you pay to be a motorist in Malaysia.
Go ahead to hike petrol and abolish toll, becuz tolls only in klang valley, petrol is nationwide included the singaporean and thailand. You get more income with petrol hike
Toll collection goes on forever, never ending, Billions go into crony pockets. Car duties sooo high, some more add SST.
Where all the money coollected go, 30 years aredy!!!!!!
Ptuiiii
Okay, do not abolish the tolls.
Should instead reduce them to reduce the users burden and to continue highway maintenance.
Most of you are too stupid to believe whatever the current government said. The original problem was created by Atuk’s government before (Anwar included), while Paklah and Najib were basically fixing whatever problem left by Atuk. If it’s not because of Paklah, we would have “jambatan bengkok” today, and If it’s not because of Najib, there won’t be any toll-free Pan Borneo and Central Spine Road at all
I agreed 100% with Tun, yes I’m a macai.
Considering that there are many parties on Harapan, its possible that this toll abolishment manifesto was agreed by majorities but an item which TunM disagreed. Considering TunM style of addressing question promptly, i could understand his answer as these situation is normal when you present a group proposal.
For example, when brainstorming for manifesto, everyone is eager to include their ideals no matter how illogical even forcing others at the rate that you can’t move forward without including those ideals. I think this is what happening to the manifesto. TunM as the lead just want to move forwards as the PRU is the main priority and not the manifesto.
At the end of the day, when we actually need to implement it, sensible decision need to be made and ideals thinking need to be compromised. There are still people in Harapan that is pushing for toll abolishment so with time, it might be implemented. It won’t be now with the strict financial focus we have for year 2018 and 2019. Some people really should chill a bit!
Since he already clarified that it is not possible to have highway without collection of tolls, I’m sure Pan-Borneo Highway will have tolls too once completed.