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In two separate Facebook posts, the former prime minister took aim at Lim’s remarks on the government’s decision not to sell PLUS Malaysia Bhd.
Earlier today, Lim claimed that Najib had admitted that toll rates would be raised 5% every three years in extending PLUS’ concession by 20 years in 2015.
Lim also said Najib tried to justify paying compensation to PLUS (for not increasing toll rates) by saying that the money would go to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and that EPF belongs to the people.
“But how much is its contribution to EPF? The dividend given to EPF is just 0.5%. I ask you, would you want 0.5% (dividend) or an 18% reduction?” he said after launching Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan Berhad’s Budget 2020 schemes.
In his response to Lim, Najib asked when were tolls increased since 2005 for highways operated by PLUS.
“What year? Give proof. The 5% increase every three years in the revised 2011 agreement was never implemented as we paid compensation to EPF via PLUS.”
Najib said between 2005 and 2011, PLUS toll rates were also not increased as the government paid compensation and any owings were restructured in the revised agreement in 2011.
He also denied extending PLUS’ concession as it had already been extended to 2038 before he became prime minister.
PLUS’ concession, he said, was first extended in 1999 from 2018 to 2030 under Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first tenure in office and the second time was an eight-year extension in 2004 by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration.
“If you don’t believe me, please go ask your father,” said Najib, while posting a link to a statement by Lim Kit Siang on his blog.
“Don’t you understand, Guan Eng? What a liar you are. You promised to abolish all tolls – especially PLUS and Penang bridge tolls but you ended up extending it by 20 years to 2058 instead.”
Najib also hit out at Lim’s remarks that the compensation his administration paid to the EPF only increased the fund’s dividend by 0.5% annually.
Lim, he said, should ask EPF contributors who hardly used PLUS tolls, those in the East Coast, and in Sabah and Sarawak, what benefit they received from the 18% toll discount when their yearly EPF dividend dropped by 0.5% every year.
Mahathir announced on Thursday that the government had decided not to go ahead with the sale of highway concessionaire PLUS Malaysia, despite the interest shown in the country’s largest toll operator by five parties.
State-run Khazanah and EPF hold a 51% and 49% stake in PLUS respectively.
PLUS operates the North-South Expressway, NKVE, ELITE, Linkedua, LPT2, Seremban-Port Dickson Highway (SPDH), Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE) and the Penang Bridge.
The Prime Minister’s Office also said there would not be any toll increase for the next 38 years.
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