JKR opens up on the thousands of potholes on roads

 

A senior citizen died after hitting a pothole and being thrown off his motorcycle near the Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 3. (PDRM pic)

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s aging roads have been identified as one of the main reasons for potholes, says the Public Works Department (JKR).

The department adds this is compounded by limited funds to rebuild roads, heavy rain and flooding, the operation of utilities services under the road and overloaded vehicles.

The issue of potholes, a perennial problem, resurfaced last month after Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin fell from his bicycle after hitting a pothole. He posted photos of the pothole, the injuries he sustained and the damage to the bicycle on social media, and it went viral. This led to an apology from JKR.

Questions have also been raised over the quality of work by contractors and subcontractors tasked with road maintenance following a report that a pothole blamed for the death of a 75-year-old motorcyclist in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 3 had been resurfaced nine times in four months.

In an email to FMT, the department said all road maintenance works follow a standard specification detailed in the contract for the work.

Once the work is complete, it is audited by the relevant departments. JKR audits road maintenance works along all federal and state roads while local councils audit roads under their jurisdiction.

“The same goes for other roads owned by other agencies such as the Malaysian Highway Authority, the Irrigation and Drainage Department and so on.

Last year alone, JKR said a total of 168,003 potholes were patched along the 14,385km of federal roads in Peninsular Malaysia.

JKR says under its “Aku Janji Zero Pothole” campaign, all potholes will be repaired within 24 hours of being reported or detected though it is also looking on leveraging technology to boost detection efforts, including using IT and dashcams.

“We are also introducing weigh-in-motion (WiM) devices to capture and record the axle weights and gross vehicle weights as vehicles drive over a measurement site.

“These records will be shared with other authorities such as the Road Transport Department (JPJ) for further action.”

It added it was also working closely with the private sector to innovate and adopt new materials, equipment and procedures which follow global standards. - FMT