KUALA LUMPUR – The government would be able to save on compensation payment from 1 January 2022 until the end of concession by restructuring four highway concessionaires around the Klang Valley.
Following that, there will be no toll hike for the Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS), Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir dan Terowong Sdn Bhd (SMART), Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Sdn Bhd (SPRINT Expressway), and Lingkaran Trans Kota Sdn Bhd (Damansara-Puchong Expressway or LDP).
Minister of Works, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said, the nett savings for the four highways is estimated at RM4.3 billion. According to him, the savings could be used for the welfare of the people, such as, on national infrastructure development programmes and other facilities that should be prioritised for the well-being of .
“The restructuring principles of Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat Berhad (ALR) is in line with the government’s principles and main objective, that is to reduce the burden of Keluarga Malaysia and not have financial implications for the government.
“The efforts of ALR to finalise the takeover of highway concessionaires is a restructuring initiative from the private sector, which gives win-win situation for the people and the government,” he said in a news conference today.
Today, the ALR that was chaired by Tan Sri Azlan Mohd Zainol and its non-profit shareholders offered to purchase 100 percent of the stakes in four highway concessions.
Through the restructuring process, there will be no profit orientated shareholders which will involve return on investments to its shareholders in any form, such as dividend.
The existing shareholders of the concessionaires are the Employees Provident Fund, Kumpulan Wang Amanah Persaraan (Incorporated) (KWAP), Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) and Lembaga Tabung Haji. They will receive a return on their investment sooner than they should.
At the same time, Fadillah said that the government cannot neglect its obligation in the existing Concession Agreement as it would give a negative image to the investors, causing them to lose interest to invest in Malaysia. If this situation happens, the investment will reduce and the people would face problems in the future.
Thus, he said, the restructuring of those companies are still concurrent with the Privatisation Policy where the private company is still responsible to handle the operation and maintenance of those highways.
“The government has also ensured that the ALR must absorb all existing staff serving under the four concessionaires.
“With that, there will be no issue on termination of employees following the proposal of restructure the concessionaires. Thus, the status of all employees under these concessionaires is guarantee,” he said.
“With the restructuring proposal, there will be no toll increment until the end of the concession period for the four highways, compared to the original concession agreements which allocated scheduled toll increment for those highways between five to seven years, depending on the respective concession agreement.
“The government will not spend anything for this transaction and the government also wwill not issue any guarantee for the ALR financing for the restructuring proposal.
“The government also do not need to bear any maintenance and operation cost for the restructuring process. The ALR recommended to maintain the toll rate through Additional Concession Agreement involving all vehicle classes for all concessionaires,” he said.
To help ALR achieve its objectives, Fadillah said that the government has agreed to extend the concession period to KESAS, LDP, SPRINT and SMART in return of their favour of not increasing toll rate.
“However, the extension of concession period is not the exclusive rights of the concessionaire, and it is subjected to the number of traffic and analysis by the government from time to time,” he said. -MalaysiaGazette
