KAJANG, Dec 19 — Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said the government, through the Finance Ministry and Works Ministry, is expected to announce the exemption of toll fees in conjunction with the Christmas celebration on Friday (December 22).

"... will announce the date, whether there is toll exemption in conjunction with the Christmas celebration.

"I was told there might be an announcement on Friday. Let’s wait,” he told reporters after visiting the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) here today.

Ahmad said that, on average, the government allocates RM21 million a day to the highway concessionaires through the implementation of free tolls.

This year, he said the government paid out RM80.07 million in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri, RM42.31 million for Deepavali and RM41.21 million for the Chinese New Year for the implementation of the toll-free initiative.

In another development, Ahmad said the government is targeting an additional 100 EV charging points on tolled highways, especially the North-South Expressway (PLUS) by 2025 by taking into consideration the increasing number of electric vehicles (EV).

Currently, 60 EV charging points on the PLUS Highway and East Coast Expressway (LPT) are placed at rest and service (R&R) areas and petrol stations, among them the Ayer Keroh R&R (northbound), Seremban R&R (northbound) and Paka R&R (northbound), which are handled by charging point operators like TNB Electron and Gentari.

"The need for increased EV charging points is one of the new challenges in the future highway landscape, in addition to creating new concepts for R&Rs, smart highways and Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting,” he said.

Earlier, Ahmad was given a nearly two-hour briefing on traffic management, including being taken to visit the traffic management centre, accompanied by LLM director-general Sazali Harun.

The LLM supervises tolled roads, including PLUS, LPT and Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH), with a total length of 2,080 kilometres. — Bernama