Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang has urged the prime minister to step in on the controversial 10 percent toll hike issue and postpone the date of its proposed hike on Jan 1 to another two months.

Lim made the call in a joint statement with opposition parties and several non-governmental organisations following a meeting held at Parliament House yesterday to discuss the matter.

According to Sin Chew Daily , the groups which have formed the Coalition Against Unfair Toll Increase (Cauti) will send the message to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is currently in New Delhi either by telephone or via e-mail.

The request, they said, was made to enable a further study into the toll hike impact on the public.

Newly appointed Cauti chairperson Teresa Kok said that the prime minister should stick to his promise of listening to the public and ensuring a fair, open-minded and responsible government.

Kok also announced the coalition's activities to voice their opposition against the approval of the North-South Expressway (Plus) toll hike by the government that will start from Jan 1 next year.

This includes the sending of a memorandum to Plus (Dec 22), a nationwide peaceful demonstration (Dec 26) and the handing of memorandum to the prime minister and deputy prime minister in Putrajaya (Dec 27).

Kok was also quoted by Sin Chew as saying that "if the government shows no interest in postponing the toll hike date for two months by Dec 27, then the coalition will seek other solutions".

Three reasons

The coalition listed three reasons why it opposes the toll hike.

1) The vehicle flow in our country has exceed the estimation by 7.5 times. This means that the income of Plus has also increased by 7.5 times - way exceeding its estimation.

2) Works Minister Samy Vellu gave the wrong information. Based on the yearly compensation of RM154 million needed to be paid to Plus if the government opposes the toll hike, the government only needs to pay a compensation of RM5 billion after 33 years, not RM 38 billion as he had reported.

3) The special management approval received by Plus in May 1998, lasts for 30 years. The period of the approval was added 12 years in 1999 (that should expire by 2030). However, the works minister told the media that Plus will receive the government's compensation until 2038. This seems to indicate that the government has increased the special management approval of Plus by eight years secretly.

On Sunday, Lim has proposed that Cauti be chaired by Barisan Nasional MP for Sri Gading Mohamad Aziz. However, he did not turn up for the meeting yesterday.

Aziz has also been vocal about the toll hike and protested against it in Parliament.