Malaysia’s new toll rates at Causeway equally unjustified

I refer to the report “Malaysian officials hope to meet S’pore over toll hikes” (Sept 20).

Malaysia’s Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dr Wee Ka Siong, has said that Singapore’s reason for raising the toll charges at the Customs, Immigration and Quaratine (CIQ) Complex in order to match Malaysia’s toll hike was “unjustified”. I feel that Malaysia’s new toll rates at the Causeway are equally unjustified.

It is understood that the revised toll charges would be used for the maintenance of the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL), an expressway that connects the Johor Baru immigration complex to Singapore’s North-South Expressway, and other CIQ-related facilities.

However, by collecting tolls from motorists entering and leaving the Johor Baru immigration complex, many motorists who do not use the EDL are forced to pay a toll.

This is not in line with Malaysia’s existing policy of collecting tolls from motorists for using tolled roads and expressways.

In addition, at least 180,000 vehicles or about 80 per cent of motorists using the EDL are not required to pay toll rates daily as they can exit at various points without having to go through the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs CIQ Complex. Only those who drive in and out of the CIQ are required to pay.

Thus, it is not a fair situation if those who use the EDL are not required to pay a toll, while those who do not use EDL are required to pay a charge.

The Malaysian government should review its toll collection and collect the new tolls only from those who use the EDL. Causeway tolls should remain clear for the Causeway.

On Singapore’s part, the Land Transport Authority should review the passive policy of simply or blindly matching Malaysian toll rates at the checkpoints as it appears to be collecting tolls for the sake of collecting them.

It is Malaysia’s policy to collect tolls on many tolled roads and expressways, while Singapore’s policy is to impose Electronic Road Pricing Charges on some roads to regulate traffic flow.

The toll collection at the checkpoints is purely revenue-driven and should be abolished if it does not serve any land transport objectives.