pywong
24th February 2012, 07:09 PM
Satu lagu project Barisan National.
Reject EDL, it's everybody's responsibility
(http://malaysiakini.com/letters/190159)
Steven Choong (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/author?l=en&c=letters&n=Steven Choong)
1:48PM Feb 24, 2012
The Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) concessionaire MRCB Lingkaran Selatan Sdn Bhd, which proposed the method of charging toll for motorists entering and leaving Malaysia only, but no charge for those who do not leave and enter Malaysia is equivalent to robbing the rich to give to the poor.
The method of collecting the toll demonstrates clearly that the authority is imposing a kind of surtax on those who are working in Singapore and earning Singapore dollars.
There are about 60,000 vehicles travelling in and out of the Johor Bahru CIQ daily and the toll is unfairly targeting only them.
They are the ones who have to leave the house early and return late at night daily, earning the dollars to support the property markets, the hypermarkets, the hawkers and many other industries in and around Johor Bahru.
If Singapore was to raise the toll to match ours, many Malaysians may choose to just live in Singapore.
The number of Singaporean tourists may also be greatly reduced. This will have a great adverse impact on all businesses in and around Johor Bahru.
For those Malaysians who get to use the EDL for free, their joy may be shortlived.
The state government had once thought of implementing the vehicles restraining system (VRS) in JB but has been shelved for some unknown reason.
The VRS is meant to implement a toll for all vehicles entering the central business district (CBD) of JB. It is the equivalent of the Singapore ERP system.
Hence, by whatever road a motorist chooses to enter the CBD of JB, the toll is unavoidable. There may still be a possibility that the VRS will be implemented in the future.
If so, the locals would have the VRS toll and those working in Singapore would have the VRS toll in addition to the EDL toll.
Malaysians must come together
All must be united to voice disapproval on schemes like EDL and Lynas as it affects the lives of our fellow Malaysians.
We must show care towards one another and help one another. Now, let’s come together to reject EDL. In future, we may come together again to reject VRS.
A Reject EDL Coalition was formed on Feb 17, 2012. Today, the coalition has grown to 17 members comprising both NGOs and political parties. The coalition has three demands:
1) Only the users of the EDL are charged;
2) The rate must be fair in the light of similar highways with elevated sections like the AKLEH and the Duke highways which only charge RM1.50 and RM2, respectively; and
3) While resolving the above two demands, the consequential compensation amount to the toll concessionaire must be disclosed at the same time.
The first project of the coalition is to collect above 10,000 signatures by Mar 5, 2012, for presentation to the prime minister.
A Facebook page called ‘Tolak EDL’ was created and an online petition was also made available. The Facebook page link is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tolak-EDL/309826345732099, while the online petition link is http://www.gopetition.com/petition-campaigns/Malaysia/
Reject EDL, it's everybody's responsibility
(http://malaysiakini.com/letters/190159)
Steven Choong (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/author?l=en&c=letters&n=Steven Choong)
1:48PM Feb 24, 2012
The Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) concessionaire MRCB Lingkaran Selatan Sdn Bhd, which proposed the method of charging toll for motorists entering and leaving Malaysia only, but no charge for those who do not leave and enter Malaysia is equivalent to robbing the rich to give to the poor.
The method of collecting the toll demonstrates clearly that the authority is imposing a kind of surtax on those who are working in Singapore and earning Singapore dollars.
There are about 60,000 vehicles travelling in and out of the Johor Bahru CIQ daily and the toll is unfairly targeting only them.
They are the ones who have to leave the house early and return late at night daily, earning the dollars to support the property markets, the hypermarkets, the hawkers and many other industries in and around Johor Bahru.
If Singapore was to raise the toll to match ours, many Malaysians may choose to just live in Singapore.
The number of Singaporean tourists may also be greatly reduced. This will have a great adverse impact on all businesses in and around Johor Bahru.
For those Malaysians who get to use the EDL for free, their joy may be shortlived.
The state government had once thought of implementing the vehicles restraining system (VRS) in JB but has been shelved for some unknown reason.
The VRS is meant to implement a toll for all vehicles entering the central business district (CBD) of JB. It is the equivalent of the Singapore ERP system.
Hence, by whatever road a motorist chooses to enter the CBD of JB, the toll is unavoidable. There may still be a possibility that the VRS will be implemented in the future.
If so, the locals would have the VRS toll and those working in Singapore would have the VRS toll in addition to the EDL toll.
Malaysians must come together
All must be united to voice disapproval on schemes like EDL and Lynas as it affects the lives of our fellow Malaysians.
We must show care towards one another and help one another. Now, let’s come together to reject EDL. In future, we may come together again to reject VRS.
A Reject EDL Coalition was formed on Feb 17, 2012. Today, the coalition has grown to 17 members comprising both NGOs and political parties. The coalition has three demands:
1) Only the users of the EDL are charged;
2) The rate must be fair in the light of similar highways with elevated sections like the AKLEH and the Duke highways which only charge RM1.50 and RM2, respectively; and
3) While resolving the above two demands, the consequential compensation amount to the toll concessionaire must be disclosed at the same time.
The first project of the coalition is to collect above 10,000 signatures by Mar 5, 2012, for presentation to the prime minister.
A Facebook page called ‘Tolak EDL’ was created and an online petition was also made available. The Facebook page link is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tolak-EDL/309826345732099, while the online petition link is http://www.gopetition.com/petition-campaigns/Malaysia/