THE government must explain how much it paid in compensation to toll concessionaires for abolishing tolls on four highways under Budget 2018, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said.

The Lembah Pantai MP questioned if Prime Minister Najib Razak, who proposed this when tabling the proposed budget today, would execute this ‘quietly’ without revealing to the public the amount of compensation.

“All toll agreements between the Barisan Nasional government and concession companies have been kept secret, allowing the companies to make extraordinary profits,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“If there was transparency surrounding these agreements, the burden on the people can be reduced.”

She said Najib’s proposal was a “U-turn” and a move to copy the same suggestion made by PKR and Pakatan Harapan on abolish toll.

Najib today said that toll collection will be abolished at Batu Tiga and Sungai Rasau in Selangor, Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah, and at the Eastern Dispersal Link in Johor.

For Selangor, the move can be seen as an attempt to help the federal government wrest the opposition-led state back after losing it in the 2008 general election.

Currently, cars pay RM1.10 for toll at Batu Tiga and RM1.00 at Sg Rasau on the Federal Highway. – October 27, 2017.