According to works minister Alexander Nanta Linggi, there are no present plans for the government to acquire any of the country’s highways.

Nanta claimed today in a written response to Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas) that the government chose against purchasing any motorways because doing so would not have been financially viable.

“The government is ready to reconsider this proposal if the financial situation allows at a later date,” Nanta said.

Then-prime minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad brought up the potential of toll roadways being taken over in 2019. Depending on the health of the nation’s finances, he claimed, the takeover will happen in stages.

He claimed that in order to execute an electoral vow made in the 2018 general election, negotiations with Gamuda Berhad to acquire four motorway concessions in the Klang Valley were started first.

Later that year, the then-finance minister Lim Guan Eng declared that a new business would provide RM6.2 billion to finance the purchase of the highway concessionaires Kesas, Sprint, Litrak, and Smart without costing the taxpayers a dime.