CM: No highway open tenders the cause of toll hikes

The federal government's move to increase toll charges in Kuala Lumpur next year has been condemned by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who blames Putrajaya's practice of the "no open tender system" as the cause.

Pointing out that price hikes in several goods and services would cause inflation to rise, Lim said "companies can fix prices as they like" without open tenders for projects, thereby burdening the rakyat.

"The (toll concessionaires) do not have to worry about whether the prices are affordable to consumers. Without open tenders, we cannot get the best deals," he told a press conference today.

"In this case, there are not more than 20 companies making profits, but 28 million Malaysians are feeling the brunt of this," he said.

Lim was referring to the toll rate hikes from next year, which Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Wahid Omar said are "unavoidable" because this was "an express condition in the concession agreements between the government and highway concession companies".

Lim noted that there was no price hike imposed by the government before the 13th general election of May 5.

"But after the election, everything seems to be going up, from toll rates to bus fares and electricity charges.

"Really, we do not know what else will go up. The federal government needs to give us an answer to this," he said, since hikes in toll fares benefited the concessionaires, who were already profiting from the situation.

'Concessionaires are reaping profits'

There are concessionaires reaping profits on their investments, but continue to collect toll fares as this is allowed by the federal government, which inked the deals without regard to public interest.

One example is that of the first Penang bridge, where consumers pay a toll RM7 to enter the island.

"The concessionaire has made his profit. He continues to collect toll and maintains the bridge, making a clean profit along the way," said Lim.

He is not certain whether Penangites would also face toll fare hikes and called for a stop to toll collection on the Penang bridge, since the concessionaire has already profited from its investment.

The inability of the federal government to address rising costs shows that it does not practice integrity.

Other non-integrity steps of the federal government include allowing crony businesses, deals with companies liked to the relatives of politicians and the non-declaration of assets of those in high office.

"The federal government does not care and will not defend public interests, for it cares more for the private companies," Lim added.