At a press conference, works minister Fadillah Yusof said ALR has offered to buy all four concession companies.

Checks with the ministry revealed that the four companies had agreed to this offer.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that there will be no more increase in toll rates for the LDP, SMART, SPRINT and Kesas highways.

Ismail said the government has agreed to a proposal to restructure the toll concessions for these highways that will see the existing toll rates remain until the end of their respective concession periods.

Fadillah said through this restructuring process, he hoped other concessionaires would follow suit to reduce the people’s burden.

“Also, to help ALR achieve its objectives through this purchase, the government has agreed to extend the concession period of Kesas, LDP, SPRINT and SMART since there will be no more increase in toll rates.

“However, the extension will not be the exclusive right of the concession company and is subject to the amount of traffic as well as analysis by the government from time to time,” he said.

He said the government has ensured that ALR will retain all staff currently serving under all four concessionaires, adding that the status of all employees under these concession companies is guaranteed.

Fadillah reiterated Ismail’s statement that this will see the government save at least RM4.3 billion on compensation for postponing increases in toll rates throughout the concession periods.

“These savings can be utilised for other national infrastructure development projects and more, which will benefit the people,” he said.

We are live on Telegram, subscribe here for breaking news and the latest announcements.