Govt agrees to restructure 4 highway concession companies to reduce toll

The government has agreed to a proposal to restructure four highway toll concession companies under Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas) to reduce the toll rates of the highways involved, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

He said the reduction of toll rates involved the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH), Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), Lebuhraya Kemuning-Shah Alam (LKSA) and Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (SILK), effective 12.01am on Oct 20.

Meanwhile, the toll reduction for Lebuhraya Kajang-Seremban (Lekas) and Sungai Besi Expressway (Beraya) under IJM Corporation will come into effect on Jan 1, 2023.

"All of the improvement works which I announced just now took into consideration the restructuring of toll rates, with the concession agreements being finalised.

"Through the latest restructuring, the government will save RM8.8 billion in estimated compensation which should be paid to the concession companies involved. Highway users will enjoy the lower rate and lighten their burden," he said at the opening of the Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Highway (DASH) in Shah Alam today.

Ismail also said the government would build an additional lane and a new tunnel at Genting Sempah, in an effort to accommodate the high traffic and deal with the problem of traffic congestion on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway (KLK) from the Gombak toll plaza to the Bentong toll plaza.

He said flood mitigation works on the East Coast Highway Phase 1 (LPT1) will also be carried out as floods often occur in the area.

On the opening of the DASH highway, Ismail said the government fully supports the efforts and continued commitment of concessionaires to boost the development of the country's infrastructure, thus proving the effectiveness of the public private partnership project between Prolintas and the government.

He said the 20.1km highway from Puncak Perdana to Penchala, comprising a total length of 55.4km including interchanges, is expected to stimulate the development and growth of economic areas such as new housing and commercial areas along the highway including in Puncak Alam, Elmina and Kwasa Damansara.

Through the construction of the DASH highway, he said 12,000 job opportunities were created for management, engineering, technical, frontline assistants and contract workers.

He said the highway, construction of which began in August 2016, was completed on Sept 30 and would reduce traffic congestion in several strategic locations such as along Persiaran Mokthar Dahari, Jalan Sungai Buloh and Persiaran Surian by up to 40% during peak hours.

He said travel time is also expected to be reduced by 30 minutes during peak hours from the Puncak Perdana interchange to the Penchala interchange compared to the existing route which takes one hour and 30 minutes.

In conjunction with the launch of the highway, Ismail also said that usage of the highway would be toll-free for one month from 12.01am on Oct 14.