Wow! Tolls price up 60% LAH!

Malaysia road tolls to rise by up to 60 pct -source

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Malaysia will announce on Thursday a sharp rise in road toll rates to help trim state subsidies, a source said on Wednesday, in a move that could spark a public outcry and raise inflation.

Tolls will go up by as much as 60 percent and will affect users of five highways in and around the capital, Kuala Lumpur, said the source, who attended an official briefing on the matter.

"The new rates take effect on Jan. 1," the source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. "That's our New Year present."

A spokesman for the Works Minister confirmed that an announcement would be made at a news conference at 3.15 p.m. (0715 GMT) on Thursday. He declined to give details.

Under toll concession agreements that critics say favour operators, the government has to reimburse operators if traffic volumes and revenues fall short of pre-agreed projections.

Most of the highways were approved in the 1990s by the administration of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, which made privatisation and mega-projects one of its hallmarks.

Works Minister S. Samy Vellu said recently the government would have to fork out 2 billion ringgit ($565 million) in compensation to five highway operators if toll rates were not revised.

The operators include listed firms Gamuda Bhd (GAMU.KL: Quote, Profile , Research) and Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd (LKTH.KL: Quote, Profile , Research).

Litrak operates the 40 km Damansara-Puchong highway, where the toll is to rise 60 percent, to 1.60 ringgit from 1 ringgit now, the source said.

Some 418,000 vehicles used the highway daily on average, reflecting a 14.5 percent compounded annual growth rate for the past seven years, rating firm RAM said in a review of Litrak.

Malaysia's annual inflation was 3.1 percent in October year-on-year, down from a 7-year-high of 4.8 percent in March. ($1=3.537 ringgit)

Afghan justice for sale

IOL
Tue | Dec 19, 06 | 12:36:35 AM
CAIRO, Dec 19 - As the line between judges and criminals blurs, almost everything seems to be for sale in the halls of justice in war-torn Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday, December 18.

"No justice exists in this country. Justice is only for those who have money to buy it," said laborer Abdul Jamil, who spent most of his time in a legal fight with his neighbor over a piece of his family's land.

Jamil lost his plea after his neighbor persuaded a lower-court judge to ignore his title deeds.

He said the judge rule against him even though he presented a decades-old deed, tax receipts and supporting letters from local elders and a mullah.

"If I had a gun, I would take it and fire 30 bullets into the judge's head," fumed a visibly angry Jamil.

"But I worry about my children because they would suffer."

The United States and western allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to topple the ruling Taliban.

At the time, they pledged to establish freedom and democracy in the Asian country.

But five years on, Afghan officials and right activists insist that the West's strategy has proved failure in putting the country on the promised "path of progress."

Bribes

Jamil's case is one of hundred similar cases in the court corridors.

According to the Times, a short tour inside the corridors of Kabul's central courts complex would reveal the extent of corruption in the justice system.

"Shame on you, you old man!" one woman shouted at a tea bearer who asked for money to allow her quicker access to the court.

"You're demanding a bribe. I'll go tell the judge," added the burka-clad women.

Nearby, a lower-court judge admitted taking at least $100 a month in bribes.

"There is no justice for judges themselves," he said, arguing that his $140 salary was insufficient for his daily needs after 30 years working in the justice system.

Pharmacist Nader Naderi, who lost his family home to warlord Gulabuddin Shirzai during the country's 1992 civil war, also had a similar experience with corrupt officials.

He returned to Afghanistan after the invasion thinking the situation would be better.

Naderi knocked all legal doors to get his stolen house back but was repeatedly told his file was lost.

He eventually had to change his strategy.

After treating a number of judges to lunch, his once lost file mysteriously surfaced.

"One day when I was sitting with the judges and some other people, one of them was complaining that his washing machine wasn't working," Naderi recalled.

"Then another guy sitting there told me, 'He is talking to you.' "

The following day, Naderi brought a new washing machine to Abdul Wakil Amini, a prosecutor involved in his case.

He then bought the same person a refrigerator and paid off every clerk, prosecutor and judge.

Yet, Naderi was unable to regain his stolen home and took his case to the justice minister, who wrote an order to the court to give him his house back.

"The next day, when I went to the court with his letter, the guy there told me: 'Give me $4,000, because you have direct orders. For others, it costs a lot more,'" he recalled.

Naderi estimates it cost $11,000 to reclaim what was his in the first place.

The widespread corruption has caused him, and many Afghans, to lose confidence in the promised freedom and democracy.

"You can never have democracy if you can buy justice." - mks.