The Selangor government has no plans to provide toll subsidies for users of the Shah Alam Highway (Kesas), according to Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

He said although the state government had a 30 percent share in the highway concession through its subsidiary company, Selangor State Development Corporation, the earnings derived from toll collections were not meant for subsidies.

“The earnings are to be used for the population in Selangor. The highway is not only used by residents in Selangor but also by people from other places,” he explained in the state assembly in Shah Alam today.

Abdul Khalid was answering a supplementary question from Mat Nadzari Ahmad Dahlan (BN-Batang Kali) who wanted to know whether the state government could use the profits earned by the corporation to subsidise Kesas toll payers.

To an earlier question from Mat Nadzari whether Selangor could take over highway concessions which the state government had a share in, Abdul Khalid, who is also Pelabuhan Klang assemblyperson, said it was not viable.

“Taking over the water industry was onerous enough, what more a highway. It is more difficult to take over a highway because the contract for the construction is not fixed and precise,” he said.

- Bernama