> Toll concession agreements declassified

The government has declassified toll concession agreements. This means the contents of the contracts, which have for long been speculated as one-sided agreements benefiting toll concessionaires, will no longer be classified as official secrets.

Sources said that with the decision, made at a recent cabinet meeting, having or having knowledge of the contents of these agreements no longer constitutes an offence under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

However, this is where the good news stops, as the ball is still at the feet of the toll concessionaires.

Although the agreements no longer fall under the OSA, a non-disclosure clause in the agreements prevents them from being made public.

"Therefore, it is now up to the companies to waive their rights under the clause to make them public," said a source.

Although the accounts, including the profit and loss statements of all these companies, can be collated from filings to Bursa Malaysia or the Companies Commission of Malaysia, many are said to be reluctant to make the concession agreements available for fear of the lop-sided clauses becoming public.

For example, according to PLUS Expressways Bhd, which controls 85% of concessions, its concessions are worth RM8.7 billion.

Apart from PLUS, concessionaires include Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd, Besraya (M) Sdn Bhd, Elite, Grand Saga Sdn Bhd, Kesas Sdn Bhd, Litrak, New Pantai Expressway Sdn Bhd (NPE), Konsortium Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim Sdn Bhd and Sistem Lingkaran Lebuhraya Kajang Sdn Bhd (SILK).

The government’s decision, a source said, was based on the fact that it feels citizens have an inherent right to know where and how their tax monies are being used and the non-disclosure clauses have been widely interpreted to mean that the contracts are skewed in favour of the concession companies.

"While the government had to fulfil its obligations, it felt the tolls were a burden to the people and that they be fully aware of the commitments," said one source.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had as far back as February last year opined that the agreements should be disclosed to the people.

However, his then works minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had consistently used the OSA to enforce the non-disclosure clause and even suggested that opposition leaders who were in possession of the agreements be prosecuted. He also decreed that periodic toll increases were included in the concession agreements without providing details or reasons for the existence of such terms.

Samy Vellu’s successor and former deputy, Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamad, has however taken the approach of revisiting agreements with highway concessionaires with the possibility of reducing toll rates.

"Toll reduction is one of the possibilities after all the studies.

"We want to look at traffic volume, operations, maintenance cost and payback to financiers. We also want to see what are the future values and the current values. We can bring the future values to current values and (the concessionaires) can repackage and refinance to reduce the burden of the people. That is one option," he was quoted as saying in June.

He had said the ministry was reviewing many of the agreements with a view to include a clause which does not allow the toll rates to be raised.

"If the traffic volume exceeded a certain value, the rise in toll rates could be avoided. Ministry officials are already in the process of renegotiating the agreements with the concessionaires," Mohd Zin had said.

A source said the declassification of the toll agreements is one of the reforms Abdullah has implemented as part of the changes he promised to make before leaving office next year.

On Sunday, Berita Minggu reported on its front page that PLUS is expected to announce tomorrow a reduction of the toll rates for highways it manages.

The report quoted Mohd Zin as saying that this was the agreement achieved from the negotiations with all concessionnaires a few months ago - theSun.