The RM50 billion question on the toll highway

ARCHIVES 2010

By admin-s On May 5, 2010

Mr. Syed Amin has a formidable CV in accountancy and corporate practice so I would gather that there would be some interesting story behind the numbers and since this is of national interest hence we tax payers and toll bearers must be kept informed and our opinion respected.

By Lee Wee Tak

I picked this up this morning from Bloomberg.

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Malaysia Group May Sell Bonds for $15.6 Billion Highways Bid

A group of Malaysian businessmen said they would sell bonds to help finance a potential 50 billion- ringgit ($15.6 billion) bid to take over all the country’s toll- road operators.
The consortium, Asas Serba Sdn., said it’s awaiting government approval before making offers for 23 highway companies, including Kuala Lumpur-listed PLUS Expressways Bhd. and Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd. Consent is needed because the government awards highway concessions.

Asas Serba is a privately owned special purpose vehicle with four shareholders, led by Chairman Syed Amin Aljeffri, president of the Kuala Lumpur Malay Chamber of Commerce. The others are Syed Budriz Putra, Wan Kamaruddin Ali and Ibrahim Bidin.

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Apparently this is not new. I guess I missed this as I am not a Utusan Malaysia regular.

Tol: Berikan kami peluang

”Teras utama cadangan pengambilan alih konsesi tol ini adalah mengurangkan beban kerajaan dan rakyat,” dakwa beliau.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Asas Serba, Ibrahim Bidin berkata, dalam cadangan tersebut, syarikat telah mengemukakan penurunan kadar tol sebanyak 20 peratus daripada kadar semasa sehingga kontrak konsesi tamat pada 2038.

Cadangan yang dikemukakan itu didakwa mampu memberi penjimatan subsidi kepada kerajaan sebanyak RM114 bilion.

Ketika ditanya tidakkah cadangan itu menyebabkan keuntungan yang diperoleh mengambil masa lebih lama, Syed Amin berkata, keuntungan boleh diperoleh dengan pertumbuhan trafik.
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I suppose the deal sounds reasonable until I cross reference with one of my previous post on the Alternative 2010 Budget by the DAP Economic Bureau chaps.

BA memperuntukkan RM25,000,000,000 untuk tujuan mengambil alih semua lebuhraya bertol termasuk lingkaran lebuhraya PLUS

That is half of the price proposed by Asas Serba. Being shrewd business people, surely the deal makers need to make more than RM50 billion from toll payers to generate healthy return to run the toll highway, pay dividends and income tax and leaves enough to have a good life for themselves and their loved ones.

If there is an open tender to this, should the payer, i.e rakyat jelata, be entitled to hear what both side have to say? Should we be entitle to know how a professional accountant propose to run a highway in a more efficient and effective manner that would improve the rakyat’s position?

It would be fun to have a national referendum to this little nugget.