Yesterday, the Works Ministry has set a target of “zero potholes” for all roads under its management. The announcement followed DBKL’s recent declaration that by 2017, Kuala Lumpur will be a pothole-free city. A little ambitious, no?
In a Malay Mail report, Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof admitted that the target is not easy to achieve. “Potholes cannot be eradicated completely. It can occur at weak spots on roads, including after flash floods or when traversed by overloaded heavy vehicles,” he said.
The minister said that at present, the authorities are tackling the issue by using a temporary cold mix compound to cover potholes. Proper pothole repair using hot mix premix compounds take time as it requires road-cutting using heavy machinery and cleaning beforehand. “This has to be done every fortnight or once a month, depending on whether the hot mix quantity is adequate for repair,” he said.
Fadillah explained that the ministry will be working with concessionaires to achieve the zero pothole target, and the Works Department (JKR) has cohesively strategised its districts by strengthening the audit management unit to check whether concessionaires have taken actions required.
“The ministry is confident this can be achieved with stringent auditing and monitoring by the appointed engineers. When they (the concessionaires) fail to deliver, a non-conformance report will be issued by a district engineer (JD) and a certain amount of money will then be deducted from them.
“JDs may also engage a third party to rectify these potholes, with the necessary payments being deducted from the concessionaire,” he said, adding that federal roads are currently being monitored by 78 JDs. Concessionaire reps in every district have to monitor the roads twice a week and submit a report to the respective JDs.
Bad patch-ups by developers or utility companies is also a big problem, and this is also covered by the audit monitoring unit. “All works and repairs for federal roads should get the approval of the respective JD, and a certain amount of the deposit will be retained before work commences. The retained portion of the deposit will be used for remedial repair works should the initial repair or restoration of the road not be up to JKR’s quality and standard,” Fadillah explained.
The Works Ministry will be proposing a revolving fund, aside from the above-mentioned deposit, to be set up in all states under its purview. “This money shall be used as a contingency to repair roads due to improper restoration by utility companies,” the minister said.
As for developers who carry out road works without approval, the JD will lodge a police report and a stop work order will then be issued. To expedite action, the ministry has established 14 different avenues and channels for the public to lodge complaints, including “Aduan KKR”, an app where one can send complaints with images and location for immediate action, Fadillah said.
The Works Ministry oversees 14,697 km of federal roads in Peninsular Malaysia, maintained by three road concessionaires. Last week, the Transport Ministry made a commitment to upgrade the safety of 75% of the country’s 144,000 km of roads to meet international standards by the year 2020.
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Works Ministry has set a target of “zero potholes”……. Rakyat has set a target of “start transparency and abolish AP system with corruption”.
All I can say is good luck. Especially with roads that lead to or are along developing sites like MRT or LRT alignment. Every 1 to 2 weeks potholes are re-appearing, especially during rainy season.
come to tasik bera road heading to temerloh…ffs the worst road i ever experience
I thought road in Port Kelang are the worst in peninsular.
that the worst…
Road are built like watered down kopi o now. How to last? Redo it every yearlah. More income for cronies. Don’t worry… every rakyat pay for the few cronies what…
what about putrajaya? never seen a pothole there before
Don’t just talk the talk, just walk the walk.
Bla-bla-bla, when the time comes we will hear – OH-Ya cannot patch/resurface because it is raining for most of the year. (Fav Ans: U know la, if not dried have to resurface again bazir you and my tax payer money)
Then aiya, you dont blame us blame the pipe jacking contractor who open the hole here and there and take more then a year to complete.
All TEMBERANG.
And please monitor mixer overload with cement. The not create hole but hump & uneven tarmac.
How? Go ask two-job Maslan lah.
No need to talk so much about reasons, using what materials or assign external contractor to monitor pothole bla bla bla.
Just start it by having better communication/planning between the departments before resurface a road as and when telecom/piping job is done.
Dbkl actually patched up many potholes ar Bdr Manjalara within days during the rainy season and i was shocked..hope MPSJ will do the same especially at Kota Damansara warzone
Jalan Cochrane
People are just too tired of listening to this kind of cheap talk.
That’s why people just feel no point writing any comment here.
Already lose hope to DBKL and most city councils. All of them just take salary but not going the extra mile to solve problem.
How to not talk cock- Rakyat
Put every pothole with 1 Bangladesh worker.
1.5million will be enough I guess.
Don’t forget to raise the manholes.
That’s another danger to our reams.
2 years ago, they were doing this bridge along jalan kuching, just before the parliament exit / roundabout.
it was a rainy night, so one could not tell the difference between puddle & a pothole filled with rain.
The road was clear & my speed was under 80 km on the right lane.
Next thing i knew it was a loud thud & both my right, back & front wheels were dented.
Cost me RM 200 to get them stretched again.
unfortunately all the advises i received, pointed out that it was a wasted of time to make a report & to even make a claim from the contractor or dbkl.
Potholes after resurface will become “bonggol”. No quality work there. If you annoyed by potholes after resurface will annoyed by bonggol/speed bump.
they should target high quality or new proper process than zero pot hole. that should reduce long term cost than repair every week or month