Tighten the reins on concessions

theSun Says

Tighten the reins on concessions
Updated: 05:03PM Thu, 22 Mar 2007

Now it is known: Road users have paid a whopping RM23.656 billion in tolls since 1988, when the first highway was commissioned.

Without doubt, this information, in Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy
Vellu's written reply to Teresa Kok (DAP - Seputeh) in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, has been a long time coming.

So, it certainly marks a milestone in public access to information, after
the long-standing clamour of the people to be told why they have been
saddled with highway concession agreements that are so generous to the concession holders.

Therein lies the rub: it boggles the mind that road users will be paying
toll for using the North-South Expressway, for example, until 2038, although the collection of RM15.91 billion to date has already exceeded the construction cost of the highway by 2.7 times.

Surely this is ridiculously in excess of any incentive that the private
sector needs for relieving the government of the financial burden of
infrastructure development.

It, therefore, needs to be emphasised that the authorities cannot afford to be so liberal with their responsibility for delivering the fruits of
development to the people.

This is especially so when higher transportation costs are borne directly by the road-using public and indirectly when the people pay a higher price for costlier goods and services.

The injustice is compounded when commuters are forced to use high-cost private transport because the public transport system does not deliver reliability and convenience.

All said, the revelation on road tolls merely re-emphasises the need for a much more stringent control over privatisation. The alternative, i.e.
transferring the costs to the consuming public, cannot claim legitimacy
without a truly open and accountable consultation with the fee-paying
public.