PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today defended the cabinet decision not to sell PLUS Malaysia Bhd despite receiving takeover offers from private sector players.

He said the cabinet has studied all the proposals made by different parties before deciding not to sell the highway concessionaire.

“That’s why they (PLUS) have taken up (agreement) under the conditions that we have fixed, which is by Khazanah and KWSP,” he said at Yayasan AlBukhary in Tasik Perdana today.

He was commenting on Maju Holdings executive chairman Abu Sahid Mohamed who had slammed Putrajaya’s “stupid” decision to keep highway operator PLUS, which is owned by Khazanah Nasional and the Employees Provident Fund.

“I don’t even know why they don’t want to sell. They didn’t tell me why they don’t want to sell,” he told Free Malaysia Today yesterday.

The tycoon also questioned why he was not informed of the government’s decision despite being invited to bid for the highway concessionaire.

Dr Mahathir added that he was not only decision maker involved.

The Prime Minister’s Office earlier today announced that toll charges for private vehicle users on PLUS operated highways will be reduced by 18% effective February 1.

There will also be no increase to the toll rates until 2058, while PLUS’s concession will be extended until that year.

With the extension, Dr Mahathir said the government believed that PLUS would be able to pay off their debts. – January 17, 2020.