That time of the year

Yes folks, it is that time of the year again. As surely as the northeast monsoon hits our shores during the November and December period, it is also the time of the year our beloved and helpless Government appealing to the public to fund its coffers. No, the Inland Revenue Board didn’t bring forward the submission deadlines so don’t fret. It is actually a self-inflicted problem that comes back to haunt us with increasing frequency.

Are you still wondering what is it? Well, let me show you a snippet of an article published last year.

Yes, that’s right. It is none other than our beloved toll increase. The difference between what we seen last year and this year is there are now 9 concessionaires seeking their scheduled toll hike per their concession agreements. One must wonder, why must we be “informed” of this? After all these years, knowing toll rates increase should by now be part and parcel of our lives, surely we should be desensitized by it right? Besides, we know of a certain education minister who is confident enough that his little keris antic demonstration in a racially based political general meeting would eventually be accepted by the antagonized Chinese as a largely symbolic act, despite the fact that his predecessor wanted to spill the Chinese blood with it back in the 1980s.

On top of that, our wonderful Works Minister has to alert us of the quantum the Government has to pay if they don’t allow for the scheduled increase which of course is not in sens (which will be done away with as another cost saving measures) but in millions of ringgit. For the 2008 scheduled increase, it would be a whopping RM380 million compensation!

That’s right folks, our Government has managed to build so many highways that we, the rakyat, have to bear the brunt of all toll increases. To show that the Government wasn’t spared, Samy Vellu highlighted that the Government compensated Litrak for reducing the toll rate from RM2.10 to RM1.60. How noble isn’t it? They paid RM75 million to help those poor motorists traversing through Litrak highway to enjoy cheaper toll rates.

Now before we jump in jubilee that our Government has saved the day, please remember that in the first place, we would not be in this state of affair had the Government employed proper resources and consulted experts as to how to come out with a “win-win” methodology to finance, construct and manage highways for the benefit of everyone on a long term sustainable basis. So people, just be prepared to fork out more money. As a simple reminder of how much the increase was previously, I have appended another snippet of a protest letter posted less than a year ago.