Najib: Pakatan giving lame excuses to extend PLUS concession period
PUCHONG: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak mocked the Pakatan Harapan government for its decision to extend North-South Expressway (PLUS) concession period last week.
In a Facebook post today, Najib many have criticised the government for its decision and DAP MP Wong Shu Qi is currently under fire in the social media platform for giving lame excuses to defend the government.
“Wong said that the government will reduce toll rates in phases. According to her, abolishing toll rates straight away will require the government to pay billions of ringgit in compensation.
“But the reality is, the extension of concession period until 2058 means 110% increase in PLUS tenure. With that, toll rates actually increased by 73%,” he said.
Three days ago, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that the government would not sell PLUS to private entities.
The premier also said that PLUS would reduce its toll rates by 18% effective Feb 1. However, the highway operator’s concession will be extended for another 20 years, until 2058.
Najib said that during his premiership, the government did not increase toll rates since 2005.
“We also did not extend highway operators concession period. Toll plazas were abolished from time to time when we had a surplus in budget,” said the Pekan MP.
By Irman Hashim
