February 22, 2011
Dr M: If a government chooses to be popular and disregard the essentials of good management, especially that of infrastructures, one should not be surprised if the nation fails to grow.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad appeared today to warn the government against rolling back the privatisation of infrastructure projects saying that the government is not a charitable organisation and such moves could hurt the economy.
The former prime minister’s remarks come as the Najib administration is attempting to tackle the unpopularity of the numerous tolled highways in the country that had mushroomed during the Mahathir era and that had long been a focus of attacks by opposition parties.
He added that the people must understand how the economy works and that the government is not a charitable organisation with unlimited funds.
“If a government chooses to be popular and disregard the essentials of good management, especially that of infrastructures, one should not be surprised if the nation fails to grow,” Dr Mahathir was reported as saying today by national news agency Bernama at the 1st World Congress and Exhibition on Infrastructure Asset Management here today.
Dr Mahathir said that toll nationalisation, one of the highlights of the Pakatan Rakyat’s reform agenda if it takes power, would hurt government finances and have negative consequences on the country.
He claimed that the cost of acquiring the toll concessions would come from the government’s consolidated funds and the nationalisation of concessions would mean less tax revenue for the government.
“Since no tolls will be charged, the government will not earn money from it and there will also be no tax collected from the private companies that were running the road operations as they will not have a source of income,” he said. “I suspect the quality of highways will also deteriorate (eventually).”
He added that less revenue would impact developments as money is diverted to the running and maintenance of the highways, potentially slowing down the nation’s growth.
“(People) will also need to reduce the standard of living,” said Dr. Mahathir. “We can forget Vision 2020 and being a high-income economy and remain a third world country.”
While Datuk Seri Najib Razak has not called for the nationalisation of toll highways, he has made moves in recent months to head off discontent by announcing a rash of initiatives led by government linked investment institutions and businessmen to reduce and abolish tolls.
These include a 5-year freeze on toll rates on four highways owned by government controlled PLUS Expressways that was announced in the 2011 budget and no toll increase for the next five years at the Karak and East Coast Phase One highways operated by subsidiaries of MTD Capital.
The toll for the East-West link highway at the Salak and Taman Connaught interchange in Kuala Lumpur is expected to be abolished in May and the toll at the Petaling Jaya Selatan 2 toll plaza along the New Pantai Expressway was reduced by RM0.60 last week. Najib had also urged other toll concessionaires to take up similar initiatives for the public’s benefit.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali however claimed victory over Najib’s push to freeze and abolish tolls saying that it was a concession on the part of the prime minister that Pakatan Rakyat’s reform proposals are workable.
Yes, Najib will do anything to make himself to appear to be appealing to the interests or prejudices of ordinary people!
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