Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas) recently released details of the concession agreements of 3 expressways under its management namely Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH), Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE) and the Lebuhraya Kemuning-Shah Alam (LKSA).
According to Datuk Ir. Zainudin A.Kadir, Group Chief Executive, Prolintas, the company wants to be clear and transparent about the details of the agreements so that road users get an accurate picture of the expressways managed by the company instead of relying on rumours and hearsay from third parties.
First and foremost, “Of particular interest to road users are the details of the road user charges which we have strived to keep as low as possible for all the expressways under our management. While the concession agreements have provided provisions for increases in road user charges we have maintained road user charges at RM1.50 for AKLEH and RM1.20 for LKSA at the Seri Muda toll plaza from day one and only made a slight increase from RM1.00 to RM1.40 for GCE in 2007,” explained Datuk Ir. Zainudin.
In the case of AKLEH, road user charges were supposed to have increased to RM2.50 in 2008 and then to RM3.50 in 2015 for Class 1 Vehicles. To maintain charges at RM1.50, Prolintas has been compensated RM119.2 million to date based on the difference between actual toll collected and toll that would have been collected if the increases were put in place.
“Whatever compensation that has been collected has been channelled back into upgrading works. AKLEH’s expansion from an existing two-lane dual carriageway into a three-lane dual carriageway from KM4.6 to KM6.0 was required of us in the concession agreement if traffic exceeded 93,600 vehicles per day. This upgrade alone cost us RM120 million,” said AKLEH general manager Engku Mohd Fauzi Engku Hatim.
“We will try our best to continue to upgrade and maintain our expressways and hope that road user charges are kept low so that as many people as possible can benefit from shorter distances and faster travel times to their destinations comfortably and safely,” concluded Datuk Ir. Zainudin.
Details of the concession agreements are available to the public at the Ministry of Works Malaysia, Block B, 6th Floor, Kompleks Kerja Raya, Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, 50580 Kuala Lumpur.
