ASIAN PEOPLE LOOK ON HIGHWAY AS MAIN ROAD: WORKS MINISTER

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (Bernama) -- Asian people are looking on toll highway as the main road to travel and the federal road as the alternative route, Works Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor said Tuesday.

He said the matter was concluded during the ministerial dialogue of the PLUS
International Expressway Conference and Exhibition 2010 here Tuesday.

The minister said when highway was first introduced in Malaysia, the
government planned to make it an alternative route to provide comfort and
convenience for the road users.

"Today, whenever I want to visit my constituency in Tampin, I never thought
of taking federal road. I will definitely use the North-South Expressway (Plus).

"If there is an accident or road closure on the south-bound expressway, then
only I will think of taking alternative route. It's the mindset of Malaysians,"
he told reporters after attending the dialogue.



Also discussed in the dialogue were the proposal to ensure the toll rate
imposed for new expressway be justified with suitable facilities along the
expressway.

"The government can identify some areas along the expressway which have
potential to be developed. The profit from the project can be absorbed into the
cost so that the toll rate imposed to the road users can be reduced," he said.

Meanwhile, he also hoped that financial institutions could offer a better
loan scheme to build expressway.

"At present, the maximum time given for loan repayment to build expressway
was only up to 30 years, whereas the lifespan of an expressway could reach up to
100 years.

"If the financial institution could extend the loan repayment period, say up
to 70 years, the expressway concessionaire could impose a much lower toll rate
for the users," he said.

Shaziman said deputy ministers from the Philippines and Indonesia
participating in the dialogue had also expressed their admiration of Malaysia's
policy on land acquisition for expressway construction.

-- BERNAMA