KJ Tells Idris To Give Con-sultan RM6.0M To Confirm Toll Hike??

KJ Tells Idris To Give Con-sultan RM6.0M To Confirm Toll Hike??

Yup thats what our hare brained Ministers are suggesting. I have been informed that each of these "labs" that will be run by the con-sultans will cost us the taxpayer at least RM6.0 Million. And at the end of it all do you think the tolls will not go up? 

Here be the news. For clarity I have added "RM6.0M" each time the word 'lab' appears.

• Khairy: RM6.0M Lab to be set up to lessen burden of the public
• to lessen burden of Malaysians hit by the recent round of price increases, said Khairy 
• He said a RM6.0M laboratory will be set up under Pemandu 
• RM6.0M lab to start next month to ensure people are not overburdened by toll 
• decision to set up RM6.0M lab made yesterday’s Cabinet meeting 
• “I raised the subject in Cabinet..” he said.
• “I, therefore, suggested we formulate a RM6.0M lab .." said Khairy.
• Idris Jala will announce details about the RM6.0M lab soon, said Khairy.
• Khairy said RM6.0M lab will address a broader range of related issues 
• He declined to comment on .decision to raise toll 

Read the last line folks : he "declined to comment". If there is no toll hike, apa pasal pula dia 'declined to comment' ? Just comment lah : "there will be no toll hike".

He declined to comment because there IS going to be a toll hike. 

So what is the purpose of an RM6.0 Million 'lab' to be conducted by the con-sultans just to "confirm" a toll hike? Buang duit rakyat saja.  The toll is going to go up.

If you want to know alternatives just read all the comments here. 

And dont bullshit the people. 

Folks here is the bad news. If the toll hike is postponed, the gomen will have to pay compensation to the toll operators. 

It will run into a few hundred million Ringgit. This means you and me - the taxpayer - will end up paying the compensation from our taxpayers money.

So here are some questions that all the reporters should ask the gomen : 

i. if there is no toll hike, how much compensation will the gomen be paying the toll operators? (Please dont bullshit us that no compensation will be paid). 

ii. will the compensation be payable ONLY on the incremental toll that they will forego or will the compensation be calculated on the full toll charges ? Why? Why? Why?

iii. how much compensation is going to be paid to AES? Is it RM716 million or a larger figure ie more than RM1.0 Billion? (Alamak soalan sesat but no harm asking this question also).

So whether there is a toll hike or no toll hike, we the taxpayers will still pay. Kalau tak bayar direct from our pocket we will be paying indirectly through compensation. 

The toll concession agreements have been signed. We cannot do anything about them. If the gomen even touches any of the toll agreements the gomen will have to pay compensation. 

These are the facts. So if the RM6.0M labs are going to suggest that the toll concessions be reworded, pray tell how you are going to achieve that without forking out more money. 

Remember this word COMPENSATION. Last sekali kita kena bayar juga.

My suggestion is that future toll concessions :

i. be pegged or benchmarked to bank debt or borrowings outstanding (relating to construction and completion of highway only. Kalau incur bank debt to build corporate HQ or Chairman's private jet itu semua tak boleh kira).  If the toll concessionaire has paid back hutang bank, hutang sukuk, hutang bonds etc and they dont suffer anymore debt servicing, their toll hikes should also be decreased accordingly. Bila hutang bank semua dah settle, no more hikes necessary.

ii.  benchmarked or pegged to traffic volume. As the traffic volumes increase (like the NS Hiway now) the toll hikes should be decreasing or no more hikes at all.  If breakeven traffic volume is x and then katakanlah 10% IRR or 15% Return on Investment requires traffic volume of (x + y),  then if those volumes are achieved (who knows maybe there was a new Prime Minister or maybe the FLOM became "lost luggage") then toll hikes should be capped. 

iii. be benchmarked or pegged to public listing or IPO. If the toll concessionaire goes for a public listing then cap the toll hikes. The shareholders have already cashed out. So apa nak toll hike lagi. 

True this will dampen the IPO but these are infrastructure projects which impose a heavy economic cost on society. You should NOT extract extra-ordinary or super profits from the provision of infrastructure for the public. Go and open a casino if you want to  make super profits.  

iv. benchmark to profits. If the toll concessionaire is making profits beyond agreed levels the toll hikes should also stop. Mana tahu the toll concessionaire builds condos near the exit ramps, builds hotels at the rest areas, collects rentals from restaurants at the rest areas or sells ad space along the highway. All these can add to profits. So kalau sudah untung banyak then no more toll hikes. 

The catch is all this must be agreed up front. Baru gomen kena sign. Tapi kalau gomen sudah sign agreement, then it is too late. Tak boleh buat apa pun.

Here is another suggestion. This one may work faster. Expose the names of all the shareholders and directors behind all these toll operators. Including the names of shareholders hiding behind nominees.  Are they cronies, politicians, Ministers families, ex Ministers families etc. Put them on the front page of the newspapers. Run them on tv. Full disclosure. This may get a quicker response. 

No need to spend RM6.0M on another lab.