I refer to a news report recently that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mahathir lambasted those who oppose the toll hike. He said that the government will have to close the highway if the people do not want to pay toll, adding that nothing is free in this world.

I am utterly flabbergasted by the arrogance shown yet again by Mahathir. He has been living in his Putrajaya palace for much too long that he is now out of touch with the feelings of the rakyat .

This is a very irresponsible statement coming from a prime minister. Can the government afford to close down the highway after sinking billions of ringgit into it? Who is going to be responsible for the loss (of money) and the people whose livelihood depends on the operation of the highway?

Mahathir says that it is the people who wanted the highway to be built. So the government obliged (but the highway had to be built the way the government wanted). The government entered into a concession agreement with UEM without parliament knowing its content, let alone the ordinary people.

The people are kept out of important matters such as the toll rate, the concession period and how the compensation using the taxpayers' monies were determined.

The people are angry because bad enough that life is getting tougher every day with the price of almost every essential item going up, then comes this hike in toll - from none other than a government-controlled company. What is the logic of the government paying compensation to a wholly-government-owned company (Syarikat Danasaham Sdn Bhd, which took over UEM, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the government's investment arm, Khazanah Nasional Bhd)?

If the transaction with UEM in the highway construction had been more transparent and the ordinary people's views taken into account,then Mahathir would have every right to be angry with the people's objections now.

The people are also angry because the government undertook to compensate UEM if the actual traffic flow was less than that projected or the toll rates (which were fixed during a time when every things were so rosy that nobody actually ever thought that the 1997 financial crisis or the Sept 11 tragedy would take place) were not adjusted.

The management of UEM have never had to prepare themselves for any commercial risks in doing business. The amount of debts piled up by UEM in undertaking gigantic projects as though there is no tomorrow is testimonial to this observation.

Works Minister S Samy Vellu was reported to have said that the hike was inevitable because PLUS incurred losses in operating the highway. He went to cite the high level of debts including a bond of RM8 billion taken by Plus to construct the highway. Has the government investigated why Plus was not able to make a profit despite the favours given to it?

There were four other tenders submitted for the construction of the highway. Was UEM's tender the best compared with the others'?

Ultimately, it is the ordinary people who have to bear the brunt of the hike in toll. Not Mahathir or S Samy Vellu - because toll expenses are borne by the government (the taxpayers).