It costs 80 sen more than the approved toll rate to travel the southern sector of the North-South Expressway (NSE) from the Sungai Besi toll plaza, but with reason.

Plus Expressways Bhd (Plus) conceded as much after a malaysiakini reader pointed out that he has been paying more than the stipulated rate of 13.6 sen per kilometre. [See chart below]

However, the concessionaire's response is that the 80 sen is to cover the 10.5km stretch before and after the Sungai Besi toll plaza, with the sum having gone to Metramac Corporation Sdn Bhd (Metramac) ever since the highway was fully opened.

Plus assistant general manager (corporate communications and marketing) Khalilah Mohd Talha said Metramac is the concessionaire for that stretch, which was gazetted in 1995.

"The stretch is a totally new alignment which connects the NSE in stages. It was not a stretch that was widened and upgraded (for toll to be levied)," she told malaysiakini .

"It would be inconvenient to have two toll plazas within a short stretch of road, so the government directed Plus to collect the additional sum on behalf of Metramac. This is public knowledge."

This arrangement will continue up to 2018, she added.

MHA tightlipped

Metramac is a wholly owned subsidiary of Metacorp Bhd which was granted the concession for toll roads under a Replacement Concession Agreement inked with the Kuala Lumpur mayor in 1992.

This covers Jalan Pahang, Jalan Cheras, East-West Link Expressway and the KL-Seremban Expressway.

Toll concession at Jalan Pahang ended on March 18 last year, whereas Jalan Cheras was handed back to the government on Sept 15, 2003.

Khalilah ( left ) also said Plus is in the midst of finalising details for its proposal for a third lane at the accident-prone approach to the Jelapang toll plaza near Ipoh.

She said the finance ministry had accepted the proposal, but would not comment as to whether the toll charge would be increased as a result of the upgrading works.

Metramac group communications manager Fazliaton Hussein directed questions to the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA), as to where exactly the 10.5km toll stretch begins and ends.

Contacted today, MHA director-general George George ( right ) declined to comment, saying, "We are not allowed to give details to (the) online press. Malaysiakini is rather controversial."

Plus increased the NSE toll rate by 10 percent - from 12.36 sen to 13.6 sen per kilometre from Jan 1.