Damaged roads will receive immediate attention — Yong

 

Posted on January 9, 2012, Monday

KUCHING: Potholes and sinkholes appearing on roads will be immediately dealt with despite the current inclement weather. Stating this, Deputy Works Minister Yong Khoon Seng added that an emergency fund under the National Security Council (Majlis Keselamatan Negara) exists for road repair works due to damage caused by floods. He added that it was a one-off aid and is only used when an incident warrants it. “With weather like this, it is very difficult to maintain the roads,” said Yong when met after the Che Hui Khor Moral Uplifting Society Kuching and Samarahan Division Sarawak alms giving ceremony held at the society’s premises here yesterday. He said that there are 1,900km of federal roads and 30,000km state roads to be looked after by the ministry.

When asked about the cost of maintaining the roads in the state, Yong said the maintenance of federal roads is at RM2,600 per km per month and the Malaysia Road Record Information System (Marris) allocates RM23,000 per km per year to each state for road maintenance. The Marris allocation is also given to opposition states, said Yong. He pointed out that the allocation has increased from RM13,000 per km per year which was received last year.

Meanwhile, Yong said they have identified many federal roads damaged by bad weather and floods as well as accident-prone areas or ‘black spots’. “We will look for funds to repair these ‘black spots’ and there are quite a lot of them. We will pay particular attention to the critical ones that have been identified.”