While he calls the toll hike deferment for 2017 as a "small victory" for Malaysians, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng wonders where the RM59.77 million to pay the compensation to the four concessionaires affected will come from.

"As this RM59.77 million toll compensation is not provided for in the 2017 Budget, can Fadillah Yusof state where the money will be coming from?

"Will the concession period of the four highways be further extended in lieu of paying compensation, just like the extension of the concession period for the North-South Expressway by an extra 20 years from 2018 to 2038," Lim, the Bagan MP, asked in a statement.

Lim was referring to Works Minister Fadillah Yusof's announcement that the restructuring for toll rates in 2016 and 2017 will be postponed for the following highways:

  • Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL),
  • Kajang-Seremban Highway (Lekas),
  • Senai-Desaru Expressway (SDE), and
  • Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE).

Lim believes that the decision by the BN federal government to postpone toll hikes for highways until end of 2017 shows that the BN has bowed to public pressure, following public unhappiness with rising prices after the hikes in petrol and cooking oil prices.

Though he noted that the victory is indeed a small one, as Malaysians still have to indirectly pay the RM59.77 million, since the government will still need to dip into public coffers to pay the compensation.

"As the 2017 Budget did not provide for any toll compensation payments, ordinary Malaysians will have to bear the full brunt of the toll hikes," he said.

In the final analysis, Lim said, highway toll rates should not be raised and extended in any case, as most concessionaires have or were already close to recouping their capital expenditures.

As such, toll rates should now go down to reflect only maintenance costs, he argued.