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theSun | TUESDAY JANUARY 13 2009 TELLING IT AS IT IS 17

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No place for
monopoly firms
I READ with interest “LDP
concessionaire making exces-
sive profit” (Jan 6). Legitimate
concerns have been raised over
the perceived excessive profits
generated by highway conces-
sionaires.
The ugly word found in eco-
nomics to describe such a state
of affairs is “supernormal profit”
or “monopoly profit”. Monopo-
lies can be natural or man-made.
In Malaysia’s case, highway con-
cessionaire monopolies were
created through policy-making
that enabled these companies
to reap such profits.
Generally, private monopolies
are frowned upon, and govern-
ments would do their best to
protect the interest of the public.
Given the recent declassification
of toll agreements, the time has
come for an in-depth scrutiny to
ascertain which of the highway
concessionaires comes under
the category of firms that are
reaping or potentially will reap
supernormal profits.
If it can be reasonably es-
tablished that monopoly firms
have been unwittingly created
through ill-conceived policy-
making, then the government
should act quickly to redress
the situation with the toll agree-
ments.
There should never be a
guaranteed supernormal profit,
monopolistic private firm in Ma-
laysia. Social welfare is seldom
maximised with profit-maximi-
sation firms.
The works minister had
announced that future toll con-
tracts will be publicly disclosed,
which is welcomed. In fact, open
tenders should be another inter-
national standard best practice
for the evaluation and award of
such projects.
There should be a clause that
prevents highway concession-
aires from earning supernormal
profit.
The government should also
review the highway concession-
aires that operate within a 20-
30km radius of the city centre.
The rationale for widening
roads in a congested city such
as Kuala Lumpur is to deal ef-
fectively with the traffic gridlock,
especially during peak periods.
However, the road expan-
sion in major roads or highways
such as Jalan Damansara and
Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong
comes with the construction of
toll booths, which act as road
blocks. The toll booths prevent
a freer flow of traffic, especially
during the peak hours.
Such a scenario if permitted
to continue would reflect the
lack of political will to solve the
worsening traffic congestion in
the interest of the public. The
government should therefore
quickly review this situation, and
establish a policy that prohibits
the construction of toll booths
within a certain distance (eg
20-30km or more) from the city
centre.
For toll booths that are
deemed to have caused bot-
tlenecks, the government
should explore effective ways
to relocate the toll booths, or
better still buy over the conces-
sions by paying a reasonable
compensation.
RK
Kuala Lumpur
AS THE the author of
the book Non-compli-
ance – A Neglected
Agenda in Urban
Governance (2002), it is
heartening to read that
Kuala Lumpur City Hall
and Shah Alam City
Council have declared
2009 to be a Year of
Enforcement. Although
What is the law enforcement is a LocalCounsel
point of routine activity of the
by Goh Ban Lee
government, it is still
investment commendable that the
in two local authorities have chosen
education to focus on this crucial aspect of
if the urban management that has been
people largely neglected.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk
cannot Ahmad Fuad and Shah Alam
even mayor Mazalan Md Noor should
follow road be fully supported in this difficult
signs? task.
One of the critical failures of
Malaysians local councils has been the un-
must learn willingness or inability to enforce
to obey rules. As a result, despite all the
the law ... laws, by-laws and development
plans, towns and cities are spoilt
by litter, indiscriminate parking,
illegal building extensions, illegal
shops and factories and illegal
hawkers, just to highlight some of
the common sights.
Consequently, the hundreds of
millions spent on urban manage-
ment every year in each major lo-
cal council has not brought about
pleasant, safe and well-run towns
and cities.
Making things worse, instead
of enforcing the law, the authori-
ties have resorted to putting up
physical barriers in response to
acts of non-compliance. The clear-
est example is the proliferation of
road bumps. What is the point of
investment in education if the peo-
ple cannot even follow road signs?
Malaysians must learn to obey the
law or pay for acts of
non-compliance.
politicians and councillors must
be commended for giving up,
Unfortunately, en- although reluctantly, the “power”
forcement campaigns to reduce by 50% compound fines
have been disappoint- imposed by the two local coun-
ing. For instance, in cils.
1991 Penang Island It is, of course, legitimate for
Municipal Council politicians to be concerned. Some
launched a campaign laws are unfair to certain sections
to enforce cleanliness of the people. But politicians must
by-laws after former realise that if a law or standard
Prime Minister Tun Dr should not be applied to their sup-
Mahathir Mohamad porters, it is also not good for the
had warned that the is- rest of society.
land was becoming the As such, the law-makers, espe-
“rubbish bin of the orient” (Feb 29, cially the local councillors, must
2005). The island is still dirty ensure that that outdated and
Klang Municipal Council im- unjust laws are deleted. Special
posed an on-the-spot RM10 fine attention must be paid to by-laws
on litterbugs in late 2005 as part and standards that make it difficult
of its “Clean township, beautiful for the poor to have a stake in the
township” campaign (Jan 24, towns and cities.
2006). Klang is still very dirty. But laws and standards left in
The challenges confronting the books must be enforced. A
Ahmad Fuad and Mazalan are worse thing than having no law is
the large number of Ugly Ma- law that is not enforced.
laysians. The National Integrity There is also the question of
Plan launched in 2004 with much unfair and discriminatory enforce-
fanfare has still no impact. Appar- ment and there have been cases
ently, the Third World mentality of abuse. Ideally, all enforcement
malaise is virulent. officers must have high integrity.
However, the bigger headaches But this would be expecting too
of Ahmad Fuad and Mazalan and much when a large section of the
all mayors and presidents who population does not. As such, the
want to enforce the law are the enforcement officers must be held
politicians. For politics, many are accountable. All complaints of un-
willing to protect the law-break- fair or biased enforcement actions
ers. Some members of parliament must be investigated.
from Kuala Lumpur have criti- Commendable as it is, declar-
cised the campaign. Indeed, one ing 2009 as a Year of Enforcement
was quoted to have described it as should be seen as the start of a
“a crazy objective”. recommitment to a basic respon-
It is wrong for elected repre- sibility. It should not end on Dec
sentatives and appointed council- 31, 2009.
lors to oppose enforcement of the
law. They are the law-makers. If
law-makers are against enforce- Dr Goh Ban Lee is a retired aca-
ment actions, there is little hope demic interested in urban govern-
for any local council to be effec- ance, housing and urban planning.
tive. Comments: letters@thesundaily.
In this regard, Penang’s elected com.

Urban bus routes on expressways viable with Duke link

THE DUKE (Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway)
corridor is the “missing link” in the ex-
pressway system cutting through the
northern part of the Federal Territory.
The corridor is also linked to the
New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE)
at the Jalan Duta Interchange. The NKVE
links Klang and Shah Alam and the
northern Klang Valley to Kuala Lumpur.
Combining these two corridors gives
an uninterrupted, rapid transport route
from Klang to Ulu Klang.
The NKVE-Duke corridor would be
ideal for a rapid-transit service. From
Klang Sentral, buses could follow the
NKVE towards the government centre
at Jalan Duta. Buses from Ulu Klang
could use the Duke to the government
centre as well. There could even be an
intercity bus service from Ulu Klang to
Klang Sentral.
Building a public transport terminal
in Jalan Duta would benefit civil serv-
ants and the public.
Normally, we do not think of urban
buses following the expressways, es-
pecially the toll expressways. However,
these unexploited transport corridors
are a great place to put “Expressway
rapid-transit”. The KLCity 2020 Draft
Local Plan has identified an LRT route
along the Duke. Running a bus service
along the corridor will help that LRT line
come closer to reality.
Waiving tolls for urban buses and
introducing a bus tag system to prevent
delays at toll plazas will improve public
transport and reduce congestion.
Establishing public transport on the
NKVE-Duke corridor will be a win-win
deal for the toll concessionaires, bus
operators and commuters.
Moaz Yusuf Ahmad
Subang Jaya