Najib dismisses Harapan as a 'cap ayam' government
SEMENYIH POLLS | Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and Prime Minister's Office (PMO) are apparently not on the same page on the government's plan to acquire the four highway concessions which Gamuda Bhd has a majority stake in.
This was pointed out by former Prime Minister Najib Razak at a ceramah held in Kampung Sungai Lalang as part of the Semenyih by-election campaign yesterday.
"At first the PMD issued a statement (on the toll acquisition) and Azmin said (the next day) that this is not finalised," he said...
SEMENYIH POLLS | Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and Prime Minister's Office (PMO) are apparently not on the same page on the government's plan to acquire four highway concessions which Gamuda Bhd has a majority stake in.
This was pointed out by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak at a ceramah held in Kampung Sungai Lalang as part of the Semenyih by-election campaign yesterday.
"At first the PMD issued a statement (on the toll acquisition) and Azmin said (the next day) that this is not finalised," he said.
"Doesn't the Economic Affairs Ministry fall under the Prime Minister's Department? How can the statement of PMO and the minister not be the same?
"This is very strange, right? This is as though the minister is not part of the department and they don't communicate with one another," he said.
He described the Pakatan Harapan administration as a "cap ayam" (pirated government), or 'cap caca merba' (unorganised government).
Najib, however, noted that it is possible that Putrajaya is now undecided on the matter, as reflected in Azmin's remark, after sensing that the announcement of toll acquisition was not widely accepted by the people.
On Feb 23, the PMO announced that the government planned to acquire four highways and said the move will eventually see the government doing away with the existing toll mechanism and replacing it with a congestion charge.
The four highways involved in initial discussions with Gamuda are the Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP), Western KL Traffic Dispersal System (Sprint Expressway), Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas), and the Smart Tunnel.
During the "off-peak period" between 11pm and 5am, the PMO said that commuters will travel on these highways for free.
"At other ‘normal’ travelling hours, commuters will enjoy discounted rates up to 30 percent compared to existing toll rates," it added.
The PMO further stated that revenue collected from the "congestion charge" will go towards operations and maintenance of the highways and repayment of loans. In the statement, PMO also said the government aimed to abolish the existing toll mechanism.
Meanwhile, Azmin said that the expected takeover costs were still in the negotiation stage and the ministry concerned would issue a statement as soon as all matters were completed.
Who will enjoy free toll?
At the ceramah last night, Najib reiterated that “ordinary Malaysians” would not be able to enjoy the free toll.
"Don't you sleep from 10pm to 5am? Who is not sleeping? Ghosts are not sleeping, drunkards are not sleeping, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community) and those out there to look for customers may not sleep. The rest are sleeping (at night)," he said.
He said the voters should reject Harapan in the March 2 poll as the toll announcement was yet another lie following its election manifesto pledge to abolish tolls.
Kampung Sungai Lalang is part of the Hulu Semenyih polling district which BN won with 1,060 votes in the 2018 poll. PAS obtained 369 votes, while Harapan secured only 680 votes.
A total of 54,503 voters are eligible to vote in the Semenyih by-election with 951 early voters expected to cast their ballots today, while 53,520 other voters will decide on March 2.
Apart from independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng, the other three candidates - Harapan's Muhammad Aiman Zainali, BN's Zakaria Hanafi and PSM's Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul - are all locals.
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