malaysiakini and the BURDEN of TOLLS.....

Like the national car projects that never really grew up after even 30 years of government protection, the tolled highways are a major burden that motorists have to bear.
malaysiakini has this article headed aPemandu told to halt RM7bil expressway project while the Malaysian Insider has the DAP MP asking the government toSuspend and review highway deal

The EDL is another innovative tolled project that connects to the CIQ in Johor Baru. This 8.2km highway has been designed so that anyone who uses the Causeway to Singapore has to pay the toll, even though the person never drove the vehicle on the new highway.....a kind of stealth highway robbery!

One unique feature about all the highway projects is the government NEVER calls for an open tender and thus taxpayers have to absorb the exorbitant and unexplained costs for a product and service that is easy to quantify.

Even if one takes a brief look at the RM7bil highway and the RM1bil EDL, the cost difference is too significant.

I suggest the following for all highway projects costing RM200mil and above:
1.Open tender to receive at least 4 bids, otherwise retender.
2.Profit capped at 50% of project costs OR 15 years after tolls collected; whichever is earlier.
3.Rates for all highways to be fixed at tender exercise and this will be a slight variation from the NSH. Example: Highway less than 10km(NSH plus 20%),
10km to 50km(NSH plus 15%),100km to 200km(NSH plus 10%)

I have created an Open Facebook Group 1 Million Motorists say "NO" to UNFAIR Toll Charges at Johor Baru CIQ and those who protest the toll can sign an online petition that takes one minute The Minister of Works of MALAYSIA: No extra TOLLS at Johor Baru CIQ for Motorists who do not use EDL highway
They say,"GOD helps those who help themselves." So this is one simple action you can take to sign a petition and tell the PM what you think of his 1Malaysia schemes.