Row over alternative route that avoids toll charges

Row over alternative route that avoids toll charges

AN opposition assemblyman traded barbs with state exco member Lim Hock Seng over the need for alternative roads so that motorists need not pay toll at the Sungai Nyior toll plaza in Butterworth.

Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah (BN-Seberang Jaya) said the state had ‘hoodwinked’ the people by claiming that the newly opened road connecting Jalan Bagan 29 and Jalan Siram was a solution to the predicament.

“This new road stretch has nothing to do with the Sungai Nyior toll and the road is located far from Seberang Jaya town.

“The state should instead construct a pair road parallel to the Sungai Nyior toll-stretch,” he interjected when Lim presented his winding-up speech at the state assembly yesterday.
Friends again: Lim sharing a light moment with Arif Shah during tea break after exchanging barbs at the Penang State Assembly

Lim said according to the agreement with the highway’s concession holder, the state could be sued if there were any ‘traffic leakages’ along the stretch that affected the company’s toll collection.

“The Seberang Jaya assemblyman is a good actor, because during the height of the Sungai Nyior toll issue, he brought supporters to protest toll collection there,” he said.

Arif Shah admitted he objected to the toll collection, adding that if it were not for him, the toll would not have been lowered from RM3 to 50 sen.

“I initially pressed for the toll to be merely 20 sen and was even labelled a crazy elected representative for that.

“But, I was bold enough to ask for 20 sen and at least it was reduced to 50 sen,” he said.

Lim said the 50 sen toll was merely an initial amount, which would be increased after three years.

To avoid paying toll at the Sungai Nyior toll plaza, he said, a new road could be connected between Jalan Bagan 29 in Taman Bagan and Jalan Jelawat in Seberang Jaya.

“However, this stretch may not materialise if the Sungai Nyior toll concession holder objects to it,” he said.

Lim said another alternative road between Jalan Permatang Pauh and Jalan Tenggiri as previously suggested by former Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, was also not viable, as motorists could use the current stretch near Mak Mandin to travel between Butterworth and Seberang Jaya.

~News courtesy of The Star~