Abolishment of toll plazas is perhaps one of the biggest promises that any politicians have ever given us but to date, road users are still paying tolls.
The Minister of Works, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan recently made it clear that toll plazas will never be abolished unless we want to see the government stuck in major debt.
“If Malaysian tolls are abolished, the government would have to compensate RM450 billion to the toll concession.”
The “manifesto” to abolish the toll plazas in Malaysia came as early as 2019. Back then, if the government were to make it happen, Ahmad said it would have cost the government a damage of Rm400 billion.
“Now that it’s 2024, my estimation is around RM450 billion,” Ahmad added.
In the Parliament, Ahmad recently pointed out that the country spends around RM388 billion a year, and abolishing the toll plazas which will cost more than the country’s annual spending is not a wise idea.
“I don’t see the abolishment of toll plazas happening.”
The cost to implement free tolls on festive seasons is also a lot, according to Ahmad.
“The government spends RM20 million in just a day to implement free tolls for Malaysians during festive seasons.”
As of now, the government has yet to announce if free tolls will be implemented for the upcoming Raya season, but Ahmad said that Malaysians can expect news about it soon.
Do you think toll plazas should be abolished in Malaysia? What consequences do you think it will bring?
This post first appeared on WORLD OF BUZZ.