Residents of Johor Baru will usher in the New Year with a new highway in town. However, what they won't expect is a tolled route that will cost their next journey to Singapore a whopping five times more than the current rate.

The Eastern Dispensary Link Highway (EDL) is a project initiated by MRCB Lingkaran Selatan Sdn Bhd and is scheduled to open next month.

The total length of the highway is 8.1km and it starts from the Pandan Interchange and ends at the Customs and Immigration Quarantine Centre (CIQ). No doubt this is an ambitious project, but Johoreans certainly did not expect the heavy price they'll have to pay to use this highway.

The total cost of the project is estimated at RM977 million but till to date, the concession holder has been very evasive when asked the proposed toll rate for the highway.

Recently, a reputable online news portal reported that MRCB has proposed a toll rate of RM9.10 for each way.

This means that any vehicle coming in and out of Bangunan Sultan Ismail CIQ will be subjected to RM18.20 in toll - a far cry from the current RM2.90 and SG$1.20.

It is estimated that 50,000 vehicles, and this is a very conservative estimation, are currently coming in and out of Singapore- and Johor Baru daily. That works out to daily collection of RM455,000 or a yearly collection of RM166 million.

MRCB will rake in RM5.7 billion

Based on this calculation, MRCB would be able to reclaim the construction cost within six years. However, the total concession period awarded to MRCB is 34 years - meaning that at the end of the concession period, the company will rake in at least RM5.7 billion in profit.

To add salt to the wound, MRCB is allowed, under the concession agreement, to raise the toll rate every three years.

As a Johorean and resident of Johor Baru, I am flabbergasted by the irresponsible manner in which the government is dealing with MRCB.

This lopsided agreement clearly benefits the concession holder only and the real group that is going to bear the brunt of this agreement are the residents of Johor Baru, many of whom travel daily to Singapore, not because they want to but because they have to.

With the ghost of recession and unemployment hovering over us, coupled with the ever-increasing cost of living, Johoreans are forced to seek employment in Singapore and at the same time, businesses in Johor Baru depend on Singaporeans for their survival.

The implementation of the new toll rate could potentially jeopardise the livelihoods of both these groups.

It also disappoints me that mainstream media has been slow or even reluctant to highlight this potential ‘ang-pow' awaiting us come next year. Be it as it may, it now falls upon the incumbent government to prove that the slogan - ‘Rakyat didahulukan, Pencapaian diutamakan' is not mere rhetoric.

Alas, I sincerely doubt so.