KUALA LUMPUR: The Works Ministry (KKR) has approved a total of RM55.97 million for 30 work orders (AK) involving the maintenance of federal roads in Kulim, Kedah and Sandakan, Sabah.
Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said the ministry had identified damage to the road surface at FT136 in the Kulim-Bandar Baharu parliamentary constituency covering 45 kilometres (km) with an estimated maintenance requirement of RM33.68 million under the Pavement Periodic Maintenance Programme.
“As of October 2024, the ministry has approved RM11.37 million involving six AK for Periodic Pavement Maintenance for the FT136 route from Kulim to Bandar Baharu, involving road resurfacing work which is expected to be completed by the end of November 2024,” he said, adding that the remaining applications would be given priority next year.
He said this during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today in response to a question from Roslan Hashim (PN-Kulim Bandar Baharu).
Roslan wanted to know when the FT136 road from Kulim to Bandar Baharu will be repaved.
Meanwhile, in response to a question by Vivian Wong Shir Yee (PH-Sandakan) regarding road repair in Sandakan, Nanta said the Sabah Public Works Department (JKR) constantly monitors the maintenance of federal roads in Sandakan to ensure they are safe for users.
He said the maintenance work covers three categories, routine, periodic and emergency work on the main federal Road from Sandakan Town to the intersection of Batu 32, Route 22, Jalan Kota Kinabalu - Sandakan, covering 56 km.
“An allocation of RM81 million was approved under P27 and RM50 million for the Periodic Maintenance Program under G1-G4 Contractors as well as an additional allocation of RM90 million to complete the backlog of pavement and non-pavement periodic maintenance on Jalan Persekutuan Negeri Sabah,“ he said.
He said RM44.6 million was allocated for the maintenance of federal roads in Sandakan this year, involving 24 AKs, covering critical areas in Sandakan Town, particularly from Batu 32 junction to Sandakan Town.
Nanta said the ministry also approved RM9.7 million to the Sabah Works Department for the maintenance of street lights and traffic lights in phases.
“In 2023, RM300,000 was spent on repairing street lights in the Sandakan district and increase to RM1.6 million in 2024.
“Besides the issue of limited allocation, other factors that are a challenge in dealing with the issue of damaged street lights are vandalism and cable theft,“ he said.
