Khalid: PR never promised ‘no toll’

(The Sun Daily) – The elimination of tolled highways was never part of Selangor Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) manifesto as highways fall under federal authority, said Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

He said some of the opposition coalition’s pledges, such as toll-free highways and free education, would first require PR to form the federal government.

“The Selangor manifesto did not (mention) ‘no tolled roads’. It is in the federal manifesto, but we did not win the federal government.

“The owners of the tolled roads are the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA), which is (controlled by) the federal government,” he told reporters at the state secretariat today.

Khalid was responding to questions on the controversial Kinrara Damansara Expressway (Kidex) and PR’s election pledge to abolish toll.

He called on Kidex’s detractors to first listen to what MHA has to say about the highway before flatly rejecting the proposal in order to have a healthy discussion on the matter.

“I have instructed the Petaling Jaya mayor (Datin Paduka Alinah Ahmad) to organise a closed-door meeting for MHA to explain the developments.

“If, after you listened to that, you say ‘we don’t want all this’, then we can discuss other options.

“But unless you have listened to that, then you will not be able to participate in the subsequent discussions,” Khalid said.

He added that MHA had already briefed the state government on the matter and said Kidex is part of a traffic dispersal plan developed in the 1990s.

Kidex has met much resistance from residents of Petaling Jaya, who cited noise and environmental pollution, and devaluation of property as their concerns.

Khalid had said before that the state government had accepted the highway in principle but can call it off if MHA no longer thinks Kidex is feasible to be built.