KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — The Works Ministry will aim to improve the standard of federal roads, Baru Bian said after revealing that around 30 per cent of federal highways and access routes were categorised as in poor or bad condition.
The minister sworn in yesterday attributed the poor condition of these federal roads to the insufficient budget allocation given to the ministry, which he said was less than half of what is required to operate.
“Around RM2 billion is needed a year, but only around RM600 to RM800 million was allocated to the ministry, not even 50 per cent of what is needed to maintain federal roads,” he explained.
He said he would be raising the issue during Cabinet meetings, saying the lack of funds would only result in poor upkeep of these federal roads.
“Now I understand why some roads are only patched when there are potholes, when I have since been informed that roads need to be resurfaced once every six to seven years to maintain its condition,” he added.
Baru then said his ministry would prioritise the development of road infrastructures in five states being Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Sabah, and Sarawak.
“I feel it is relevant for these five states which are seen as the most backward and poor compared to others.
“There are more than these five where the (roads) infrastructure is not impressive, but especially these five had not received the benefit of good infrastructure, that is why we are prioritising them,” he said.
He added that good roads would spur national economical development with the added means of , and boost the tourism industry.
“These federal roads are the links and the ones that can help us to progress economically, where I believe infrastructure is the catalyst to a nation’s development,” he said.
