KUALA LUMPUR: The government will not abolish highway tolls until the country's financial situation improves and stabilises, said Works Minister Baru Bian.
"I would like to reiterate that the government's policy is clear and we will not abolish tolls until the country's financial situation improves," he said in Parliament today.
He said this in reply to a supplementary question by Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (Pas-Pasir Mas), who ask whether Pakatan Harapan's promise to abolish tolls was a pipe dream.
Meanwhile, in response to a question by Muslimin Yahaya (PH-Sungai Besar) on the progress of the West Coast Expressway project, Baru said the RM6.542 billion project is expected to be completed by the year 2022 instead of April 2020.
"The delay is caused by several factors, including the process to take over the land (involved).
"The WCE concession period will last 50 years starting Jan 2, 2013, when the concession agreement was signed.
"WCE will own 20 toll plazas, six of which to be located on the main route and 14 more to be located on the multilevel intersections," he said, adding that the highway will span 313 kilometres, connecting Banting in Selangor and Changkat Jering in Perak.
"At present, the WCE project is 60 per cent complete."