Toll Agreement Declassified

The Cabinet had discussed “a couple of meetings ago” whether to declassify toll concession agreements, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

He however declined to elaborate on the matter, saying that he would get Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed to make a statement.

“Was it (declassification of toll concession agreements) as reported in the papers?,” he asked when commenting on a newspaper report quoting sources that the Government had declassified toll concession agreements.

“I think I will ask the minister to make a statement to make sure it is technically correct,” he told reporters Monday after presenting the Felda Youth Awards 2008.

Asked if the issue was ever discussed by the Cabinet, the Deputy Prime Minister said:

“Yes it was, (during) a couple of Cabinet meetings ago,”

The report stated that the Government’s decision was based on the fact that it feels the public have an inherent right to know where and how their tax monies are being used and the non-disclosure clauses have been widely intepreted to mean the contracts are skewed in favour of the concession companies.

Although the agreements no longer fall under the Official Secrets Act, a non-disclosure clause in the agreements prevents them from being made public and it would be up to the companies to waive their rights under the clause to make the information public.

more at : Malaysia-instict.com