Intellasia News Services -- High tolls hurt transport firms in Central Highlands province

High tolls hurt transport firms in Central Highlands province
Source: 28-AUG-2008 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
Transport companies that use a toll gate in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong complain the fee is too high even though the highway investor says the gate is operating at a loss.

The Dinh An toll gate was set up in July to collect tolls for a newly constructed 19-kilometer section of the Lien Khuong Da Lat Highway.

The four-lane highway is an alternative to the overloaded National Highway 20, the southern exit of the province's resort town of Da Lat.

The People's Committee of Lam Dong Province has allowed the investor, the Seven Military Zone's 7/5 Company, to collect a toll that's double the government's basic fee of 22,000 dong (US$1.32).

Many transport enterprises have complained they pay more than 10 times more at the Dinh An toll booth than at other toll gates.

"It's a high toll for a bus to pay 44,000 dong (US$2.65) to travel only 19 kilometres," said Luu Phuc Thong, director of Phuong Trang Transportation Co Ltd in Da Lat Town.

"The toll at the Hai Van Tunnel, which was more expensive to build, is only 1.5 times the basic toll."

Thong said the company paid about 100 million dong (US$6,000) a month in tolls for its buses and another 100 million dong for its Da Lat HCM City coaches at the Dinh An toll gate.

"Actually, most of our buses only use two kilometres of the highway before turning to other roads but they have to pay the full toll," he said.

Director of the Lam Dong Transportation Joint-Stock Company, Vu Dinh Tao said: "Our buses used to pay 300,000 dong (US$18) per month for the toll at Lien Khuong tollgate on the old route. They paid an average of 3.6 million dong (US$216) per month using the new highway because the tollgate doesn't sell monthly tickets.

"We have no subsidies for our buses activities in the province," he said.

"If there is no change in the toll fees, we will stop activities for sure."

Director of the Thanh Buoi Transportation Company, Le Duc Thanh, also complained about the high tolls at the Dinh An tollgate.

Many HCM City tour operators said they were worried about tours to the famous resort town of Da Lat because they had to pay four tolls on the way, including the expensive Dinh An toll.

Owners of Da Lat trucks, which often carry flowers and vegetables from the cool-climate town to HCM City, also complained of the high toll, saying the farmers would have to pay the extra payments from their meager profits.

However, the investor of the highway project still complained of their losses.

"We are suffering a loss of more than 8 billion dong (US$483,000) per month," said 7/5 Co director Huynh Van Tai.

"With a capital of 626 billion dong (US$37.8 million), we have to pay a monthly interest of more than 10 billion dong (US$603,000)," he said.

"With an average of 2,500 vehicles per month, we could collect only 2 billion dong (US$120,700)."

Tai also said the company had suggested the provincial People's Committee permit them to sell monthly tickets to bus companies.

The 7/5 Co opened the 80 kilometre per hour Lien Khuong Da Lat Highway opened in July after four-years of construction.

The 933 billion dong (US$56.3 million) project was financed in the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format, with the 7/5 Co to collect tolls for 24 years and seven months.