Improve toll collection now before rolling out barrier-less system, says PAC
Its chairman, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, said the Works Ministry must ensure the implementation of the barrier-less toll collection system, called the Multi-Lane Fast Flow (MLFF) system, did not financially burden the government or motorists.
She said this was to avoid the recurrence of issues raised in previous PAC proceedings, such as financial implications that resulted in the government making payments to highway concessionaires.
"While the MLFF system may improve the flow of traffic at toll plazas, it will not comprehensively resolve traffic congestion.
"Congestion appears to be caused by an insufficient number of lanes and an excessive number of vehicles at certain locations," she said in a statement today.
Mas Ermieyati said any decision on the implementation of the MLFF or any future system must deliver benefits and overcome traffic congestion.
She said PAC had also requested that the Works Ministry provide a written update on the progress of the MLFF system.
Yesterday, Works Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Azman Ibrahim had said the earliest a barrier-less toll collection system could be implemented was in 2027.
Azman had said the proposed system was still pending cabinet approval, and discussions with highway concessionaires could not proceed until a formal decision was made.
Azman said that the projected 2027 timeline took into account the need for stakeholder engagement, the request-for-proposal process by concessionaires and the establishment of a regulatory body to oversee the initiative.
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