DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang today urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to visit Johor Bahru and explain to the people why his government had gone back on promises Najib himself made in 2012, on toll hikes at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex in Johor Bahru.

 

Najib made a promise in March 2012 that those who did not use the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) do not have to pay toll charges at the CIQ complex.

 

However the government recently hiked the toll charges by sixfold and set Aug 1 as the implementation date.

 

A protest by factory bus drivers last Friday who refused to pay the tolls and had caused massive traffic congestion, forced authorities to "review" the decision.

 

Lim said that Najib had also told the Parliament in September 2012 that there would be no toll charges on EDL.

 

"Najib ( left ) cannot take his public pledges lightly and must go out of his way to explain and justify flagrant breaches of his public pledges," Lim said in a statement today.

 

Najib has so far remained silent on the issue.

 

"Has Najib no explanation or justification whatsoever for his breaches of his two pledges on the EDL to the people of Johor in 2012?," Lim asked.

 

Lim said that it its "astounding" that even though four out of six MPs in Johor were from BN, they were not consulted before the hike.

 

"Until Najib can visit Johor Bahru to give a convincing and acceptable explanation and justification for his breaches of his two pledges, he should immediately suspend and defer implementation of the astronomical causeway toll hike hikes," Lim said.