KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Toll fares for six major highways in the Klang Valley will be lower from October 20, caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced today.

The affected highways are the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (Akleh), Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), Kemuning-Shah Alam Highway (LKSA), and Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (SILK).

Two others, the Kajang-Seremban Highway (Lekas) and Besraya Highway, will see lower toll fares only from January 1 next year.

Ismail Sabri said the decision to reduce the toll fares for the first four highways was made in a Cabinet meeting on May 18 and the last two on June 1, before Parliament was dissolved on October 10.

He said the government had also on March 4 agreed to widen the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway (KLK) from the Gombak toll plaza to the Bentong toll plaza by adding a new lane in an attempt to reduce traffic woes.

He said a new tunnelled road will also be constructed in Genting Sempah to accommodate high traffic and reduce congestion.

He added that flood mitigation works will be conducted on the East Coast Expressway Phase 1 to manage the frequent floods in the area.

"All these improvement works took the restructuring of toll rates into account, with supplementary concession agreements being finalised.

"Through this latest restructuring, the government has saved approximately RM8.8 billion in compensation that should have been paid to the concessionaires involved. Additionally, highway users can enjoy lower toll rates to ease the cost of living,” Ismail Sabri said when launching the new Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH) here this morning.

This announcement comes ahead of the 15th general election, which is expected to take place as early as November.