The government should not ‘abuse’ the Official Secrets Act (OSA) to ‘hide’ the contents of toll concession agreements, said an opposition party.
DAP Selangor today submitted a memorandum to Works Minister S Samy Vellu at his office in Kuala Lumpur objecting the government’s decision not to make public the details of the agreements.
Last week, Samy Vellu said toll agreements between the government and highway concessionaires will continue to be classified as OSA.
“As taxpayers and motorists are bearing the brunt of toll hikes, Malaysians have a right to know the contents and the rationale for paying so much to the concession companies,” read the memo signed by DAP Selangor chairperson Ean Yong Hian Wah.
Ean said the government’s refusal to reveal the details would reflect badly on Malaysia’s efforts to combat corruption.
“There is mounting public anger over the toll hikes which is seen as a ‘highway robbery’. It sells out the rights of Malaysians to big corporations. These companies are guaranteed profits and protected against losses,” he added.
The government has paid RM4,864 million in compensation to Klang Valley highway companies. The original cost of the highway construction is RM4,123 million. DAP has called on the government to either build the highways themselves or buy them over.
No economic rationale
Ean said there is no economic rationale or financial sense for the government to refuse to buy over the highways when this a cheaper and a cost-effective option.
“Why let the five highway companies make RM739 million mid-way through their concession period ending between 2024 – 2035?” he asked.
Effective Jan 1, the toll rates for five highways in the Klang Valley saw a rise between 20 and 60 percent.
At a press conference early this month, the Coalition Against Toll Hikes (Protes) revealed a copy of the agreement between the government and Lingkaran Trans Kota Sdn Bhd (Litrak) which operates the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) highway.
Protes demanded that the government reveal how the government had reached its agreements with other highway concessionaire companies.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat information chief Tian Chua, who is also a Protes member, had said the cabinet’s decision to classify the documents under OSA confirmed what the coalition had said earlier that the content of the contract was unfavourable to the public.
However, Samy Vellu saw red over the issue and wanted the heads of those who ‘stole and leaked’ the document to roll.
The five highways affected by the increase are the LDP, the Guthrie Corridor Expressway, the Shah Alam Highway, the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway and the Cheras-Kajang Highway.
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March 16, 2009 at 5:25 pm |
Hi, I am Sammy Vellu the con man.
Me and Bodawi the PM have join forces and plan the cheat the citezens of Malaysia. Afterall these citezens are studpid people. We have been cheating the whole nation for the past 50 yrs and intend to continue.
What can U do?
The legal system is in our pockets, so is the Police including IGP and even the Malay rulers support us to rob the malaysia citzens.
Anybody opposing us will be put in prison under ISA law.
So you studpid citezens can’t do a thing about it, can you?