Works Minister S Samy Vellu's recent revelation that motorists would have to pay higher toll rates has sparked discontent.

DAP leader Lim Kit Siang today demanded that all highway concessions be open to public scrutiny.

"If the APs (Approved Permits) lists... can be made public, is there any reason why all the highway concessions in the Ministry of Works cannot be made public? " he asked in a statement.

Lim criticised Samy for using the 2003 renegotiations with the concessionaires as justification for alerting motorists to the impending toll hike.

He said that renegotiations lack accountability and transparency as the outcome have never been presented in Parliament.

"The fact that the highway concessions had to be renegotiated in 2003 is proof that the original negotiations had not been carried out in a responsible manner, fully protective of the rights and interests of motorist and the general public," he added.

On Monday, newspapers quoted Samy as saying that the government could no longer bear the burden of compensating highway concessionaires.

Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations adviser Prof Hamdan Adnan fired the first salvo the following day, saying that all concession agreements should be renegotiated in view of frequent toll hikes.

He also wanted to know if there is an escape clause for renegotiations within the agreement and if there is none, then who was responsible for the 'blunder'.

Responding, Samy said the government had already renegotiated with the concessionaires in 2003, butwas mum over the escape clause.

A senior citizen from Perak, who travels frequently along the North-South highway, said the concessionaire should practise corporate social responsibility, especially when the government owns a significant proportion of Plus Expressway Bhd through its investment arm, Khazanah Nasional.

He said motorists would be at the mercy of the concessionaires, should the government stop compensating them.

"We need to know the size of the government's investment in Plus and whether the company is making money. If it is, why should the government compensate it?" he asked.

An insurance agent from Taiping, Perak, who goes to Kuala Lumpur regularly for conferences, said any toll hike is unjustifiable unless the quality of services keeps up with this.