The Malaysian government has made a RM 6.2 billion bid to take over four toll highways in the Klang Valley to reduce the cost of living by removing toll roads. The four highways are the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP), Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat (Sprint), the Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas) and the Storm Water Management and Road Tunnel. The highways are operated by units of listed infrastructure company Gamuda Berhad. Over the years, the government has received a large number of complaints due to increasing toll charges. The acquisition of the highways would also directly save taxpayers an amount of over RM 5.3 billion, which would have to be paid to the concessionaires by the government as compensation to freeze toll rate hikes until the end of the respective concession periods. If the acquisition is successful, the takeover would be completed on December 31, 2019, through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) wholly owned by the Minister of Finance, Incorporated (Inc). The SPV will finance the offer through a bond issue. The collection of congestion charge will service the debt and finance the operation and maintenance costs of the highways without requiring an additional budget allocation by the Ministry of Finance.
