Y OURSAY ‘Don’t kill the golden goose that lays the golden eggs.’

470pct toll hike wreaks havoc at JB causeway

MY Kee: I am a Johorean. I do not work in Singapore. The economy in Johor Bahru (JB) is getting from bad to worse.

JB depends a lot on Malaysians who travel to Singapore to work, and bring home the money back to JB to spend.

By collecting Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) toll, Singapore will also increase their toll. So, instead of about RM15, it will be closer to RM30 per trip for car.

As for the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) charged by Singapore, it is not really relevant. We can drive to Singapore 10 days free per year, and also off-peak hours for free.

For Malaysians with Singapore permanent residency (PR) working in the republic, they are required to drive Singapore cars and pump RON97 petrol.

But if Johor state wants to collect another RM20 for VEP, that basically will make it about RM50 per trip to Singapore. Businesses in JB will somehow be affected by less and less spending power.

Mosquitobrain: What is the rationale behind this phenomenal increase in toll? Don’t kill the golden goose that lays the golden eggs. Beside food and some shopping, what other attraction can Johor Bahru offer?

Look at supporting feeder roads to the existing expressway. Road conditions are no better than kampung roads.

The traffic system is chaotic, parking haphazardly planned, and there are illegal hawker stalls, overgrown and old trees, poor lighting, clogged drains and floods.

The Public Works Department (JKR), Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) are competing against one another by digging up and failing to restore the roads back to good condition.

Now you want to support a toll hike? This is the southern gateway of Malaysia. Dr Mahathir Mohamad called it the New Johor Bahru . But we prefer to call it the old Johor Bahru.

Kit P: Any government decision-maker which raises a fee by 570 percent on one week's notice needs to be admitted to the psychiatric ward.

By the way, that also applies to the Singapore government decision with 400 percent increase to the monthly Goods Vehicle Permit (GVP) fee. Both amount to punitive decision-making, and governments should not be punishing ordinary people.

Unmasked: Is this ‘strike’ by factory buses a sign of civil disobedience? I hope not. But with prices of almost everything going up (with more increases to come), nobody can really blame them.

Providing sufficient food on the table for the family is getting more and more difficult. The government must not take the rakyat for granted.

GodBless: The government figured out this is the best way to skin the people; Malaysians on Malaysian payrolls have no fat to trim while those on Singaporean payrolls probably still can afford to feed the ever-hungry cronies.

Furthermore, most of these people are Chinese who are opposition supporters anyway, so BN is not afraid of any vote loss.

Anonymous #85701391: Malaysians will understand and pay if the government declared it is running out of cash and need the new toll collections to help meet the expenses of the PM’s Department and its many floors full of experts/consultants and their private jets.

We must take care of this hardworking PM who is taking the heat off his loyal but greedy cronies. If not, the cabinet will be running around like a headless chicken.

Fair Play: They have the power to raise the toll as and when they like under the relevant legislation that is enacted to their advantage.

But you also have the power to counter them like what you just did.

There is an even chance that the powers-that-be would back out or else this 'impasse' will continue and lead to nowhere, except to expose their ineptitude in making changes without prior consultation.

Cry, My Beloved Country: How crisis after crisis develops within the country when the PM outside the country. What remarkable coincidences.

Anonymous #039163649: I am so happy to see a ‘kerajaan berjiwa rakyat’. What can be more ‘berjiwa rakyat’ than a 570 percent toll hike?

We elected the government, now let us support their toll.

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