A concerned Malaysian writes about Malaysian affairs. "You are the Change you Seek" Barack Obama

Thursday, May 8, 2008

We Can't WAIT so L-O-N-G for the Slow Readers in the Works Ministry.....


If you take the number of years it took for the PDRM to voice their concerns over the IPCMC, we really do not want to wait months for the Works Ministry to study the various toll agreements.

The quick solution to shine a bright light on the secret tolls is to make all those agreements public and I am sure many Malaysians will be able to suggest an equitable solution for the owners, the public and the government.

If you take the case of the Cheras toll protesters, you must feel for them. The housing estate was already there when the government awarded the toll concession and created a tolled highway that included the residents' main access road; thereby creating a captive population in a township.

Such restrictions could have been avoided if we used a more efficient way to collect tolls. For example with the overhead gantry and electronic toll collection, these residents could be provided with the IVU(in vehicle unit) that gives them free access to a specific toll.

The other aspect is that tolls should be revised downwards when the traffic exceeds the projected flow.

The long term solution is for the government to take back all the toll roads once the agreement ends.

Photo: Thanks to the Star

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