KUALA LUMPUR: The construction of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) from Banting in Selangor to Taiping in Perak is 60% complete and will open in stages starting next year.

Works Minister Baru Bian said the project will be completed by 2022, two years later than the initial April 2020 deadline, due to land acquisition and changes made to the alignment in Tanjong Karang, Selangor.

In a reply yesterday to member of Parliament (MP) for Sungai Besar, Muslimin Yahya, who asked about the progress of the WCE, Baru said the project involves the development of a 313km highway, which is jointly developed by the Public Works Department (JKR) and toll concessionaire WCE Holdings Bhd’s 80%-owned unit, West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd (WCESB).

WCESB holds a 50-year concession for the WCE based on a Jan 2, 2013 agreement.

WCESB will build 233km of the expressway, starting from Jalan B18 Banting-KLIA to Persimpangan Bertingkat Tanjong Karang for the Selangor portion.

For the stretch in Perak, it starts from Jambatan Sungai Bernam in Hutan Melintang and ends near Changkat Jering toll booth of the North-South Expressway (PLUS).

Meanwhile, JKR is responsible for upgrading the existing Jalan Persekutuan 5 (FR5) that spans 81.5km, comprising the 50km stretch from Tanjong Karang to Hutan Melintang, and the 31.5km stretch from Teluk Intan to Kampung Lekir, Perak.

“The cost of construction of the entire WCE project is RM6.54 billion, covering the private sector’s package of RM5.04 billion and RM1.5 billion for the JKR part. The closed system will be implemented for toll collection, where toll charges will only be imposed on usage of new roads built by WCE,” said Baru.

“For the FR5 expressway section, it will be toll-free,” he said, adding that WCE will have 20 toll booths, of which six will be placed at main routes and the balance at multilevel junctions.

“If the rakyat want to dream about toll abolition, it is up to them. But the government’s policy is clear, we are not abolishing toll until our fiscal condition improves to a healthy level,” he said in reply to a question by MP for Pasir Mas, Ahmad Fadhli Shaari, on the matter of abolishing tolls that was one of the promises in the Pakatan Harapan’s election manifesto.

On Oct 12, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also said it was impossible to have highways without the imposition of toll collection as the government needed the revenue to maintain existing roads or build new ones.