Media Statement
by Lim Guan Eng

(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is clearly wrong and not being truthful when he said that the Works Ministry is pressure proof from toll concessionaires wanting toll hikes because toll hikes are not subject to control from his Ministry but to one-sided toll concession agreements unfavourable to the people and the government. Samy made an empty and meaningless announcement when he said that the government would not allow any toll increase this year and would not back down to any pressure from toll companies.

There are 2 reasons that Samy is clearly seeking cheap publicity that he would not allow toll hikes to rise and ease the burden on consumers suffering from the recent 30 cents rise in petroleum products. One, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had promised on Sept. 7 2005 that to curb inflation, it would halt further fuel price rises for 2005 and delay increases in highway toll rates until after 2006.

In other words the Prime Minister, not Samy, had already promised last year that there would be no toll hikes in 2006.  Samy was only parroting what the Prime Minister had said but trying to make it sound big as if this was something new and a bold announcement form him.

Secondly and more importantly, this freeze on toll hikes for two years will not have any impact on most of the toll concessionaires because their scheduled toll hikes do not fall in 2005 and 2006. None of the 10 toll road concessionaires currently have any scheduled rate increases for 2006 such as PLUS, Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd, Besraya (M) Sdn Bhd, Elite, Grand Saga Sdn Bhd, Kesas Sdn Bhd, Litrak, New Pantai Expressway Sdn Bhd (NPE), Konsortium Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim Sdn Bhd, Sistem Lingkaran Lebuhraya Kajang Sdn Bhd (SILK), MTD Prime Sdn Bhd and Sistem Penyuraian KL Barat Sdn Bhd (Sprint).

The only concessionaire due for an increase was the Penang Bridge. The government was forced by the one-sided and unfavourable toll concession agreement to pay compensation of RM19 million a year after denying them an increase last year. For the Prime Minister or Samy to announce no toll hike in 2006 has no substance, meaning, relevance or concrete effect. No wonder Samy was so confident of no toll hikes in 2006 but not for 2007 as this was not mentioned by the Prime Minister and the toll concession agreements agreement provided for toll increases next year.

The real significant announcement would be Samy declaring that there would be no toll hikes in 2007. Samy may be afflicted by a sense of hubris and triumphalism after he was returned unopposed as MIC President for a historic 10^th term recently. But he would do well to remember the advice from US President Abraham Lincoln, that you can deceive some of the people some of the time, even deceive all the people some of the time but you can not deceive all the people all the time.

(08/03/2006)