KLUANG (Aug 29): The government has approved an additional RM100 million allocation for road maintenance works throughout Peninsular Malaysia, said Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.

He said that of the amount, RM70 million would be used for 79 periodic pavement maintenance works, while RM30 million has been allocated for 200 non-pavement periodic maintenance works.

“For the southern zone, which consists of Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka, we are offering 18 periodic pavement works, worth RM15.06 million; and 36 non-pavement works, worth RM6.5 million,” he said. 

Ahmad said this to reporters after witnessing the drawing process for the Peninsular Malaysia-Southern Zone Federal Road Maintenance Programme 2024 here on Thursday.

He said that for the southern zone, Johor received the largest allocation, totalling RM11.75 million, followed by Negeri Sembilan with RM6.645 million, and Melaka with RM2.165 million.

Ahmad said that Johor had been allocated RM8.05 million for 10 periodic pavement road maintenance works; Negeri Sembilan, RM5.4 million for six maintenance works; and Melaka, RM1.61 million for two maintenance works.

He added that for non-pavement periodic maintenance, Johor received RM3.7 million for 36 maintenance works, Negeri Sembilan, RM2.245 million for 11 maintenance works; and Melaka, RM555,000 for six maintenance works.

“Periodic pavement road maintenance works involve repairing damaged pavements and road structures using techniques such as milling and paving, overlay, road structure reconstruction, and resurfacing.

“Non-pavement periodic maintenance covers repairing road assets other than pavements and road structures, such as painting road lines, maintaining bridges, fixing drains, [as well as] repairing signs and road barriers,” he said.

Meanwhile, when asked about the sinkhole incident at Jalan Masjid India in Kuala Lumpur, Ahmad said that the Works Ministry had provided expert advice to the relevant parties involved in road maintenance.

“The parties involved include Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), the Fire and Rescue Department, and Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK),” he said.

The sinkhole incident last Friday (Aug 23) caused a woman, Vijayaletchumy, 48, from Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, India, to go missing after falling into an eight metre-deep sinkhole.

Another sinkhole was reported on Jalan Masjid India, about 50 metres from the site where the ground collapsed, with the incident believed to have occurred at around 2.30am on Wednesday (Aug 28) due to heavy rain and a storm. 

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