Malaysians protest road toll hikes

Channel News Asia




More than 2,000 Malaysians held an angry protest on Sunday over steep hikes in tolls for highways in and around Kuala Lumpur, demanding the government reverse the increases and reveal agreements with highway operators.

Chanting "Long live the people!" and "Down with the toll", protesters mainly from opposition parties, rights groups and trade unions gathered in front of a shopping centre in a southwestern Kuala Lumpur suburb near the office of one highway operator.

"We are expressing our discontentment and frustration to the government," said president of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud.

"For the past couple of years we have seen an increase in the price of petrol and goods and services ... People are very frustrated and very angry," he told AFP.


Malaysia on January 1 introduced steep toll hikes of up to 60 percent for highways, fuelling inflation fears and criticism that the government was beholden to agreements with private highway operators.

Under concession agreements signed between the government and the operators which span three decades, the companies are allowed to regularly raise toll rates and critics say they are making massive profits.

The government said it has paid compensation to companies to fend off toll hikes, but that it could no longer afford to do this.

Works Minister Samy Vellu last month said the government would still be forking out 2.58 billion ringgit (US$734.52 million) in compensation, despite the hikes.

Lawmakers, activists and unionists have slammed the rises, which they say are unjustified after the nation's steepest-ever fuel price hikes in February last year.

The rise in petrol prices saw inflation hit a six-year high of 4.8 percent in March.

The executive director of rights group Suaram, Yap Swee Seng, said protesters were seething over a lack of transparency in the concession deals.

"We are demanding the government make public the contents of the contracts and set up a commission to look into all these contracts," Yap said.


Sun2Surf




A group of about 300 people protested yesterday in front of the Sunway Pyramid shopping centre against the recent toll increases on five highways in the Klang Valley.

Policemen and FRU personnel block off traffic from Pantai on the NPE and keep a watchful eye on the crowd during the protest in front of Sunway Pyramid.

Although the gathering was held without a permit, police allowed the protesters to have their say for 30 minutes. However, soon after the time was up, the crowd marched to the main road and continued venting their displeasure for the next hour. The main road leading to SS15, Subang Jaya, was closed to traffic for about an hour.

Police personnel watched patiently despite the unruly behaviour of several protesters who swore at the men in blue and posed a threat to traffic.

"We were patient and allowed them to have their say. We are happy it went on smoothly without any untoward incident," said Jaafar after the crowd dispersed at about 6pm.


elizabeth wong



It was an odd place to pick for a mass demonstration.

Flanked by two lions, supposedly representing the Sphinx, Sunway Pyramid is an Egyptian theme park gone mad/bad. But bring thousands (this time, it wasn’t just the political activists) who stood firm on their right to assemble peaceably against the toll hike, and it became quite an amazing visual.

There were students, workers, trade unionists, off-duty journalists, housewives, fund managers and bloggers. I spotted a TV producer, a friend who works in public relations, a tech-consultant and some friends whom I’d not seen for a while.


Harakah Daily

Hampir 5,000 (?) berhimpun membantah kenaikan Tol, Samy dan Abdullah jadi sasaran cemuhan!

"Samy get out!", "Pak Lah Turun!" "Turun BN!" dan "Turun Tol" adalah laungan amarah rakyat yang tidak dapat dibendung lagi bagi membantah kenaikan harga tol yang berkuatkuasa baru-baru ini

Laungan itu kedengaran bergema sekitar jam 4 petang tadi di hadapan kompleks beli-belah Sunway Pyramid yang berjaya menghimpun sejumlah hampir 5,000 orang ramai dan turut dihadiri pemimpin tertinggi parti-parti politik, Badan-badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) dan pertubuhan mahasiswa.

Turut hadir sama ialah Timbalan Presiden PAS, Ustaz Nasharuddin Mat Isa;Naib Presiden, Mohamad Sabu; Bendahari PAS, Dr Hatta Ramli; Ketua Pemuda PAS, Salahuddin Ayub; dan pimpinan lain seperti Haji Mahfuz Omar; Dr Zulkifli Ahmad, Ustaz Idris Ahmad dan Dr Lo' Lo' Ghazali.

Selain itu hadir sama ialah Presiden MTUC, Syed Shahir; Bendahari KeADILan, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim; Ketua Penerangan KeADILan, Tian Chua; Ketua AMK, Shamsul Iskandar; Ketua Wanita KeADILan, Puan Fuziah; Ustaz Badrul Amin, Shaari Sungib (GMI), Ronnie Liu (DAP), YB Dominic (DAP), Setiausaha Agung Parti Sosialis Malaysia, S. Arutchelvan, Pengarah Urusan Suaram, Yap Swee Seng dan lain-lain ahli-ahli politik,aktivis masyarakat dan para mahasiswa.

"Kita nak tunjukkan isyarat jelas kepada kerajaan!" kata Setiausaha Protes Kenaikan Tol (Gabungan Parti Pembangkang, Kesatuan Pekerja dan Pertubuhan Kerajaan), Dr Hatta Ramli ketika berucap di hadapan orang ramai.

"Rakyat sudah tidak tahan lagi dengan sikap kerajaan yang suka menindas! Ini sudah sampai ke tahap maksimum!" katanya lagi.

Manakala Presiden Protes Kenaikan Tol, Syed Shahir dalam ucapannya menuntut supaya kerajaan membatalkan keputusan menaikkan kadar tol, mendedahkan segala perjanjian konsesi lebuh raya antara kerajaan dengan syarikat lebuh raya dan menubuhkan jawatankuasa pemeriksa kira-kira bebas untuk mengkaji kenaikan tol ini.

"Jangan tipu rakyat! Dedahkan perjanjian yang ada!"katanya dan disambut oleh laungan orang " TOL : Tipu Orang Lagi!"


Tian Chua

We first waited under the feet of the lion-headed Sphinx. At 16:00hr, the crowd swelled, people started pouring in from different direction. Within minutes, the space in front of the shopping mall was filled by thousands of people. Many of them brought their own banners and platcards.

I did the openning, followed by Dr Hatta (PAS) who is the secretary of the coalition. The rally was attended by leaders of trade unions, opposition parties and NGOs. Among those first arrived were: Fuziah (Women Chief of KeADILan), YB Dominique Ng (ADUN Pandungan), Rajasekeran (MTUC Sec Gen), Mahfuz (PAS), Arul (PSM), Shamsul Iskandar (Angkatan Muda), Yap Swee Seng (Suaram), YB Teng Chang Kim (ADUN Sg Pinang), YB Ng Swee Lim (ADUN Sekinchan), Dr Nasharuddin (PAS Deputy President), and so on.

Later, YB Teresa Kok, Ronie Liew, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Mat Sabu, YB Salahuddin and other leaders came one after another. The temperature continued to rise.

Syed Shahir walked in a few minutes after we started. MTUC under his leadership has seen a surge of new activism. The trade union movement is not just confined to the scope of employment and wages, but Syed Shahir leads the labour movement to be actively concerned and participating in broader social and political issues. Present at the rally including many union leaders: Rajasekeran, Abdullah Sani, Bruno Pierara, Albert Puniah and so on......

Soon the water cannon arrived. Interestingly, marched in front of the water cannon and FRU trucks were a squadron of female anti-riot FRU. In general both police and demonstrators were highly restrainted. Although the police made several stern warning to demand the people to disperse, we were able to carry on with a few more speeches by the leaders presented.....


Jeff Ooi

Is there a blackout of the news in mainstream media? It's VMY2007, and yesterday's anti-toll protest took place at Sunway Pyramid, a shopping paradise within my neighbourhood.

This is something anticipated. VMY or no VMY, the rakyat still have to pay increased toll the way it was planned when the concession agreements were signed.



Merdeka Review

逾2500人和平集会约2小时 警民合作血腥星期天不重演...(more)


The Sun reported about 300 people, other said there were a few thousand, Harakah noticed 5000 people were protested in front of the Sunway Pyramid shopping centre yesterday, against the recent toll increases on five highways in the Klang Valley. Other reputable news media didn't hear the news of the protest...


Read more about the toll issues at Jeff Ooi's "Screen Shot"- For whom the tolls toll?..." and Tian Chua's "E Contrario"


Malaysia toll hikes protest