A memorandum to protest the recent toll hike in five major Klang Valley highways will be submitted to the Prime Minister's Department in Putrajaya tomorrow morning.

The memorandum will be submitted by a coalition made up of opposition parties and non-governmental organisations.

The coalition's secretary Dr Hatta Ramli, who is also the treasurer of Islamic opposition party PAS, told malaysiakini today that about 100 representatives from various groups will be present at the event tomorrow.

"We are asking the government to be transparent in their dealing with all the (highway) concessionaires. Why the government is at the mercy of the concessionaires and passing all the problem to the people?" asked Hatta.

He said that the new rates, to take effect from Jan 1, will be an added burden for all the highway users.

Apart from the memorandum, the coalition will also be organising a public talk over the toll hike tomorrow night at the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Chinese Assembly Hall.

The talk will feature prominent speakers including PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Malaysian Trade Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud and human rights group Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng.

The coalition is also organising a mammoth protest against the toll increase on Jan 7. The protest will be held along the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) highway.

Online petition and demos

In a related development, an online petition against the toll hike initiated by the DAP Petaling Jaya gathered 274 signatures as of 3pm this afternoon.

Among others, the petition called on the government to respect public opinion by agreeing to defer the "unfair toll hike" until a full public study and understanding of its socio-economic and long-term implications of the toll hike are done.

On Dec 14, the government announced that the toll rates for five major highways in the Klang Valley will rise between 20 to 60 percent effective Jan 1.

Among others, the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) will see its toll rise from RM1 to RM1.60.

Works Minister S Samy Vellu later disclosed that it cost RM4.13 billion to construct the five highways, namely the LDP, Shah Alam Highway, Cheras-Kajang Highway, Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway and the Guthrie Corridor Expressway.

And he revealed that the government would have to pay out a RM2.589 billion compensation package for the five concessionaires from Jan 1, 2007 to the next review in toll rates, which is between 2010 and 2012.

Samy Vellu also said the government had already doled out compensations amounting to RM2.275 billion to the operators of four of the five highways, not including Guthrie Corridor, which is a new highway.

However, while he gave a breakdown of this figure, he did not specify over what period of time this amount was paid.

However the maths indicate that the government could be paying as much as RM4.9 billion in compensation alone for the highways. This prompted the DAP to suggest the government just buy up the five highways by paying the RM4.13 bullion for the total construction cost.

DAP is also organising a Dec 31 protest at the Grand Saga toll plaza along the Cheras highway. The protest is jointly organised by the Bandar Mahkota Cheras Open Access Road Action Committee (BMC-OARAC).

Apart from this, MCA Puchong also will be organising a protest against the toll hike at 10am this Friday, Dec 29, at the LDP.