Government has received several ideas and proposals on MLFF, we will accept them later – works minister
The never-ending saga of multi-lane fast flow (MLFF) toll collection in Malaysia continues, with works minister Alexander Nanta Linggi confirming that his ministry has accepted several ideas and proposals on the system’s implementation, Berita Harian reported.
Nanta Linggi did not elaborate further on the matter, only telling reporters yesterday: “There are ideas, we will accept them later.”
As yet, it is unclear if the said proposals included those submitted by highway concessionaires to finance the construction of free-flow lanes at toll plazas, the publication stated. It was previously reported that the nation’s 32 highway concessionaires may be footing the bill for the construction themselves, which would apparently save them more than RM1 billion.
In 2023, quoting sources familiar with the matter, Free Malaysia Today said the concessionaires objected to the government’s decision to directly award the MLFF project for every highway to a single private company. The concessionaires were reportedly not consulted on the project and would have been on the hook for RM3.46 billion for the entire project.
Later, Nanta Linggi said the MLFF system was approved by both the previous and current governments as it was already used in developed countries. “Malaysia is united when it comes to the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and we have agreed on the MLFF system. Perhaps [the issue] concerns which contractor will handle or operate it,” he said.
Nanta Linggi added that a company had initially signed a two-year agreement for a proof of concept and that period has since lapsed. “As such, a memorandum or proposal paper will be raised to the cabinet later to state that the previous matter had expired, as well as [what] the government’s future direction will be.”
On 11 December, Nanta Linggi said that the main obstacle to the implementation of MLFF was the difficulty of finalising its governing structure. This is because 13 highway concessionaires were not in agreement over the MLFF system’s implementation.
To recap, the MLFF system aims to relieve traffic congestion by providing seamless automatic toll payments without any barriers, similar to Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system. After years of talk, a proof of concept was planned for 2023, but the project has since been mired in indecision as the works ministry has continuously failed to reach a consensus with all highway concessionaires.
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