THE public should not have sympathy for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his government, who are “utterly incompetent” in managing taxpayers money, said DAP national public secretary Tony Pua.

The former special officer to Pakatan Harapan’s finance minister Lim Guan Eng chided the government for not going through with the tolled road acquisition, which would have saved billions and instead opting to compensate highway operators for freezing toll rates.

“Seriously, how financially stupid can the Muhyiddin government be? The rakyat should offer no sympathy to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who had lamented that the treasury is running out of funds when they are utterly incompetent in managing the rakyat’s money, wasting billions of ringgit in unnecessary compensation,” he said in a statement today.

He said it is “mind-boggling” that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has failed to complete the agreement after more than a year. 

The takeover would have ensured that the government never had to pay a single sen in compensation to PLUS Expressways ever again. 

“What made the financial situation inexplicably worse for the government is that the 18% discount on toll has already been implemented from February 2020,” he said, referring to the move implemented by the PH government.

“Had the agreement been completed on schedule last year, it would mean that the government would not have to pay a single sen in compensation to PLUS for the 18% discount.”

He blamed the government’s sheer incompetence in completing the agreement, which will now result in the payment of compensation. 

“However, because of the sheer incompetence of the PN government in failing to complete the agreement, we now have to compensate PLUS not only for freezing the toll rates, which were scheduled to increase between 5 and 10% every 3 years, we have to compensate them additionally for the 18% discount already implemented,” he said. 

The Damansara MP said he had written to the government on Monday to proceed with the proposal to acquire and restructure the Gamuda highways of Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas), Damansara-Puchong Expressway, SPRINT Expressway and SMART – which will save the government hundreds of millions of ringgit in annual compensation as a result of freezing toll rates. 

On top of that savings, toll discounts of up to 30% could also be offered to daily commuters of the highways. 

However, he said he was shocked to realise that Putrajaya would have to pay a  massive RM2.25 billion in compensation for this year, which is more than a billion ringgit in compensation to be paid to PLUS Expressways.  

Had the deal gone through, highway users will be able to enjoy 18% discount on the current toll rates without any increase in future toll rates, as the 5% toll rate hikes scheduled to take place every three years would have been scrapped permanently.

This would have translated into a saving of up to RM1.1 billion in 2020, and RM43 billion over the entire concession period until 2038. 

In addition, the government will also no longer be required to compensate PLUS for freezing or reducing toll rates, resulting in a saving of at least RM26 billion – which can be channelled towards welfare and development programmes. 

He added that the equity value of PLUS shareholders, Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) will be fully protected in the restructured deal.  

“The RM7.5 billion acquisition will be executed via the issuance of debt securities to Khazanah and EPF by PLUS, will be financed in its entirety via the discounted toll collections. In simpler terms, the government will pay nothing for the acquisition of the highway, as the acquisition cost will be repaid via the discounted toll collection over time.” 

The above is a fantastic deal for all stakeholders – the government, the commuters and the shareholders. It was one of the major tangible achievements by the PH government just before it was toppled by those who betrayed the rakyat’s mandate to PH in 2018,” he said. 

Last week, Works Minister Fadillah Yusof said Putrajaya would defer a proposed toll hike for Kesas, South Klang Valley Expressway and Lebuhraya Pantai Timur 2 to year-end. 

Fadillah said the government would also continue to defer toll increases on 21 highways and at a toll plaza, which were previously delayed. 

The PH government had negotiated the acquisition and restructuring of PLUS from Khazanah and EPF. – May 5, 2021.