Make PLUS concession terms public, govt urged

The public is unable to judge the Federal Government’s decision not to dispose Plus Malaysia Bhd, the country’s largest highway concessionaire, as a wise choice as there is little transparency in the way the deal was made.

Former Bank Negara Malaysia deputy governor and economist Tan Sri Dr Lin See-Yan said the government should make public the details used to make the decision as it involved public expenditure.

“We don’t have enough data to decide whether the deal (not to sell PLUS and lower tolls) is a good one.

“There should be transparency when it comes to public spending and if there are no trade secrets, I do not see trade secrets in the building of highways and bids,” he said.

“The bids for the concessionaire have to be made transparent so that the public has the right information to decide whether the Cabinet made a wise decision to benefit the people.”

He said the public also did not have details on the other players who had bid to acquire PLUS.

“We are all commenting based on guesswork and the little information we have. Guesswork can backfire on the government,” he added.

Lin was commenting on the Cabinet’s decision not to sell PLUS and freeze toll hikes for the next 38 years, saying no to five bidders, including Khazanah Nasional.

Besides the North-South Expressway, the company also owns the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), North-South Expressway Central Link (Elite), Malaysia-Singapore Second Link (Linkedua), East Coast Expressway Phase Two (LPT2), Seremban-Port Dickson Highway (SPDH), Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE) and Penang Bridge.

The statement said the Cabinet’s decision was in line with Pakatan Harapan’s 14th General Election manifesto promise that tolls would be lowered until they could be completely abolished.

It said the government would save RM42bil by not paying compensation to PLUS to maintain toll rates.

“That money will now be used for other initiatives to benefit the people. The implementation of the lowering of the tolls will be based on the approval of PLUS shareholders,” said the statement.

“The concession of all PLUS highways will be extended by 20 years from 2038 to 2058. This is to ensure PLUS maintains the highway operation without having to depend on the government.”

The decision to keep PLUS was based on a one-year study and thorough consideration by the Ministries of Works, Finance and Economic Affairs, it added.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund are the main shareholders of PLUS.

The statement also highlighted that the toll rate on the North-South Expressway would be lowered from 13.6 sen/km to 11.15 sen/km.

In 1999, motorists paid 11.24 sen/ km on this highway.

Once implemented, a trip from Jalan Duta to Alor Setar would cost RM45.50 compared with RM55.50 currently.

We are all commenting based on guesswork and the little information we have.

Tan Sri Dr Lin See-Yan