Media Statement

For Whom the Bridge Tolls?

Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon's recent admission that the Penang Government is "literally powerless" and "virtually helpless" to prevent Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd from further raising toll rates is cause for deep concern.

It gives the impression that the economic considerations of a privatised body are holding the state government and Penang Bridge commuters to ransom. More seriously, it only strengthens the belief that privatisation, in many cases, has been detrimental to ordinary people and totally unnecessary.

Any bridge toll hike will further burden commuters, many of whom are already experiencing economic hardship. It is also unjustified given the tremendous jump in the volume of traffic on the bridge - largely the result of a deliberate scaling down of the ferry services. The increased traffic alone has already translated to higher toll revenue from the bridge without the need to raise toll rates.

Before any decision on the toll rates is announced, the state government should publicly announce the cost of the Penang Bridge, the toll revenue collected so far, the annual maintenance cost, the balance of the original loan due, and the annual loan interest payable. In this way, the public can judge for themselves whether a toll increase is really justified. Such public accountability would also dispel the suspicion that the toll hike is meant to rescue certain favoured firms, saddled with huge loans as a result of over-stretching themselves in projects that had nothing to do with the Penang Bridge.

We concur, though, with Koh that the Penang people should protest against any bridge toll hike in a big way. But if such protest builds up, Penang's leaders should not then regard it as a threat to "national security" and "political stability". Alternatively, bridge commuters could just decide to vent their frustrations when voting in the coming general election.

Aliran Executive Committee
12 August 1999