‘I believe many are not that terribly hard-up for the Plus discount if they can make their trip taking into account petrol, wear and tear, accommodation, etc...'
On 10% discount for night riders
Tatt Chua:
A 10% discount. They are treating us like beggars.From KL to Penang, the toll cost RM40+ and there is only a RM4+ discount. I believe many are not that terribly hard-up for a discount if they can make their trip taking into account petrol, wear and tear, accommodation, etc...
And the period for the discount if for after12 am. Better not give la...
Anyway, RM4 is not attractive to many so as to lose sleep over. Also, night driving is generally more dangerous (you are sleepy, dark external conditions).
Higher risk of highway robberies. The breakdown services take longer to arrive (should a breakdown happen). You won't be able to see potholes.
The list continues....
Jr Lee: It is totally irresponsible of Plus to encourage Malaysians to travel past midnight in order to enjoy a 10% discount. As Malaysians are badly affected by the high cost of living, they will go to any length to save a few ringgit.
Currently, thousands of Malaysians die every year using the highway and a lot of these accidents happen in broad daylight.
Can you imagine how many Malaysians will die if they were to travel back home for festivities when only a small portion of the North-South Highway is lighted and there is no motorbike lane?
Added to this is the danger of thousands of heavy vehicles using the highway after midnight and the authorities not banning the use of xenon headlights.
The entire highway will be a ‘killer highway', the country's longest mortuary and will be covered with corpses.
Many doubt the reliability and efficiency of Plus emergency units in handling accidents in broad daylight let alone past midnight.
Shockingly, our Works Minister Mohd Zin Mohamed support this irresponsible act of Plus without givng serious thought that many lives will be lost for the sake of Plus earning more toll revenue.
If Plus wants to practise responsible corporate social responsibility, it should give the 10% discount irrespective of the time of travel. This, then, will not endanger the lives of Malaysians.
Peter Yew: For the sake of saving a few ringgit, some people may decide to drive at a time when hey don't usually drive and endanger other motorists.
Remember that not all of the highway is fully lighted at night to making driving safe. I wonder if the Malaysian Institute for Road Safety (Miros) has been consulted on this move by Plus.
On Consumers paying more than full cost
Peter Yew: This is daylight robbery! How can the government unilaterally decide to fix a high price when the real price is much, much lower? This is certainly not helping the people fight recession through lower spending.
The savings with lower oil prices must be passed on immediately to the people who have the right to enjoy it.
When prices went up, the government imposed a drastic price hike that triggered a strong inflation that is not yet corrected because the government forced a very gradual price reduction that had little impact on costs.
It is a ‘heads I win, tails you lose' situation and show a very unprofessional and uncaring government. Just because Petronas now cannot fill the government coffers it has to go after the rakyat .
And by the way, how are they going to collect the so-called petrol tax? We pay at the pump and the profits go to the oil companies. Are they now required to pay windfall taxes on their exorbitant selling prices?
We don't have a choice, people! Time to get rid of this sort of government.
Millionth Citizen: Abruptly, in June on June 05 the petrol price went up by about 40%. We in a dilemma now because the people do not trust the government.
The government never consulted anybody before making that decision that affected the people greatly.
Now they say they are reducing petrol prices to help ease the burden of the people. They should have thought about our burdens before increasing the price of oil so drastically.
Now the traders are unwilling to reduce their prices for fear of another rash decision by the government. Are we not a nation in a dilemma?
Ganesh: If the government had based its budget on the previous high price of oil, then, it is negligence. Only this word can describe the whole situation.
Oil is a commodity which goes up and down, like a yo-yo. The government should not have taken such a risk in coming up with a budget based on high oil prices.
Sheer, utter negligence. It does not take a clever person to know that it is a high risk to assume oil would always stay above US$100 per barrel mark.
The government should have had foresight since it has briiliant brains formulating the budget.
Now we know what kind of economists and financial experts there are in the government.
There is absolutely no excuse to come up now and say that the government now needs to make money from the lower fuel price to rectify the budget.
And we are supposed to pay for this negligence?
On 'What about all the other prices?'
John Johnson: I totally agree that food and drink prices should come down as per the reduction of the petrol price.
Any one can see the impact. I don't travel much and a full tank of petrol can last me five days. But for five days, I need to eat three square meals a day and this will amount to 15 meals.
Imagine if there were price reductions for food and drinks, in 30 days I would have saved a lot.
It is easy for the PM to say the public should fight back and boycott the traders or try to car pool or find another job.
The rakyat has to bear all the burden until god knows while our government has been squandering our money for other purposes other than for the benefit of our people.
They should stop giving excuses and ensure that every government agency does its job.
As for enforcement, I suggest checking on every outlet and having a standard pricing for the public. We should also report errant food operators and restaurants.
On Highway contracts to be declassified
V Gayathry: The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) welcomes the government's decision to declassify all highway concession contracts except one and expresses hope that future contracts with public interest are made under more open and transparent conditions.
Though long overdue, the announcement by Works Minister Mohd Zin Mohamad is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of information on public interest issues that have not been disclosed.
We wish to demand that the documents be made available free or at the lowest possible cost so as to allow anyone with an interest in the issue to access them.
The decision should also be the first step towards more disclosures on government contracts with the private sector on public goods and services such as roads, water, power, health, education and other services.
We still deserve an explanation as to why the government agrees to conditions on paying compensation to toll concessionaires and the perceived lop-sidedness in the agreements.
As an individual, it annoys us that we either have to accept toll rate hikes or part with our money indirectly when the government agrees to compensate concessionaires when they are not allowed to raise the prices.
The OSA is an outdated law that is used to keep information from public scrutiny and it should be replaced with a Freedom of Information law that will obligate public bodies to disclose decisions made using public funds ( The writer is CIJ executive director ).
On Damning report on Pempena's dubious investments
Mano Maniam: There goes the taxpayers' money into the drain.
Concerned Citizen: I agree that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should focus on developing Penang and give a clear vision and direction on how Penang shall move forward.
Already eight months after the general election, he still chooses to pick on the ‘wrongdoings' of the former administration one after another but offers no solution to the problems.
If this continues unchecked, it would eventually give the people the impression that he may be using disclosure of other people's faults to cover his own shortcomings.
Time to move ahead. Don't just go round in circles. Progress is what Penangites want to see.
On MCA info chief lashes out at 'irresponsible' Ali Rustam
Sang Kancil: Ali Rustam is a person who is living in his own world and is always in a state of illusion.
He is a racist politician who will soon axed by people's power in 13 th general election.
He is famous for his racially inclined speeches and remarks. He is not fit for the Malaysian political scene.
I hope he will lose in upcoming Umno elections.
