Johor Umno assemblyperson Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid brought up the Zika virus in trying to push for the implementation of a road charge for Singapore-registered vehicles.

"The government has been gracious enough to allow the owners of the Singapore-registered vehicles to use Malaysian resources, including its fresh air and sunshine.

"These Malaysians working in Singapore help develop the city state, pay a variety of taxes to the government of Singapore and they now even risk infecting their fellow citizens in Johor with the Zika virus, as they travel daily to the host nation.

"It looks like we're being shortchanged from every angle," Tengku Putra, who is the Kempas assemblyperson, said in a statement today.

As such, he urged the government to implement the proposed road charge for Singapore-registered vehicles with immediate effect.

Although the road charge underwent a trial period from June 1 to July 15, with 120,000 Singapore-registed vehicles being registered with the Road Transport Department (RTD), it has yet to be implemented, he said.

Tengku Putra said this was an issue he had been pursuing since 2002, to impose an RM10 levy on every Singapore-registered vehicle entering Malaysia.

If that RM10 levy had been imposed since then, he said the Malaysian government could have collected about RM2 billion, and some of that money could have been used to improve the infrastructure in Johor.

It is not fair, he said, for Malaysians to finance the cost of construction and maintenance of roads in Johor and Malaysia for the convenience of foreigners.

"The road charge is not intended for just Malaysians working in Singapore, and owning Singapore-registered vehicles, but also Singaporeans who come to Malaysia and use our infrastructure and facilities," Tengku Putra said.

He also suggested that the road charge card be made renewable at RM50 per year, as this would garner the government an additional RM6 million annually.

"We should learn to do research, pick competent parties and announce a decision when we are ready to implement it, within the time-frame stipulated.

"Too often we sound like a starter's gun that is loud but shoots blanks, and it weighs on the government's credibility when a ministry fails to live up to its word," Tengku Putra said.