Pengguna perihatin

Saturday February 14, 2009
Toll at PJS2 plaza abolished
By LESTER KONG and LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: Toll collection at the Kuala Lumpur-bound toll plaza at PJS2 on the New Pantai Expressway (NPE) has been abolished from midnight last night.

The Cabinet decided to do away with the RM1.60 toll last week, said Works Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed yesterday.

“The decision by the Cabinet was a consequence of the Works Ministry’s memorandum to abolish the toll. Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, it is also the Government’s way to show love to the rakyat,” he said during the announcement ceremony of the abolishment.

Mohd Zin said removing the toll was also meant to soften the effects of economic uncertainties for the nearby residents who had to pay RM1.60 every time they drove towards Kuala Lumpur since April 2004.

Mohd Zin did not specify the amount of compensation to be paid to concessionaire NPE Sdn Bhd.

Officials of the consessionaire could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, a small but noisy crowd of Umno, PAS and PKR supporters turned up to support the abolishment of the toll charge, which was considered a Valentine’s Day gift not only to road users heading to Kuala Lumpur but also for the 30,000 residents of nearby Taman Medan and Kampung Dato’ Haron.

However, PKR’s Taman Medan assemblyman Haniza Mohd Talha said the Government must also abolish toll on the opposite side of the highway, heading towards Subang Jaya and Kelana Jaya.

“The problem is there will still be traffic congestion at peak hours on the Taman Medan and Kampung Dato Harun side (coming from Kuala Lumpur),” she said when contacted yesterday.

Haniza added that road users exiting via Kampung Dato Haron would still have to pay toll to go to Kuala Lumpur since they would have to pay on the Subang Jaya-bound side first before making a U-turn.

She said Taman Medan PKR would continue to fight for the other toll charges to be abolished.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, who heads the DAP team tasked to scrutinise toll concessionaire agreements, said that he welcomed the abolition of the toll at PJS2.

The concern is whether the Government has to pay compensation and if it needs to, the amount should be scrutinised and it should be minimal, he said.

Fomca secretary-general Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said that while the move is good, the reason for the move should be made known.

It would be unfair if the concessionaire is losing money and the Government has to compensate, he said.

Fomca’s stand is that there should be no toll charges for roads because they are common property and the country has the funds to develop these social services, he said.