Activist: Selangor now 'Darul Pothole', worst roads in country

Selangor may be the most developed state in the country but it has the worst roads, claimed pothole activist Lando Zawawi.

Lando, the founder of pothole-fixing biker group Ikatan Silaturahim Brotherhood, even went so far as dubbing the state "Selangor Darul Lubang" (Selangor, Abode of Potholes).

"There are potholes everywhere," the activist, whose real name is Azlan Sani Zawawi, told Malaysiakini in an interview.

By comparison, he said the roads in Negeri Sembilan are the best, while Penang is the fastest one to respond to problems.

"This is because the (previous) Public Works Department (PWD) director is very responsive. A Brotherhood member sent him a Whatsapp message at 3am to report a damaged road, and he would respond," he said.

Asked about why road conditions were bad in Selangor, Lando claimed it was due to red tape involving the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) in the state.

"The problem is that (fund) allocations from Marris are not directly channeled to local councils.

"How are the local councils supposed to work? With such bureaucracy, it might take up to six months to fix a small hole.

"This small hole will get bigger and can threaten lives," he said.

S’gor’s federal roadblock

Selangor exco member Zaidy Abdul Talib, who oversees the infrastructure portfolio, however, said that local councils do have access to Marris funds.

"Marris allocations from the federal government are received by the state treasury, which channels it to the implementing agencies including local councils.

"Every agency has its standard operating procedure (SOP), so if there is a delay (in fixing roads), you have to revert back to their SOP," Zaidy said when contacted.

He added that some roads in the state could not be fixed by the Selangor government as they were federal roads, and not under their purview.

"There are a lot of federal roads in Selangor. They fall under the federal government and the state government can't fix them," he said.- Mkini