States may be asked to maintain federal, rural roads with own funds

Baru Bian.

GEORGE TOWN: The federal government may ask state governments to cover the cost of construction and maintenance of federal and rural roads using their own funds this year, given the tight national budget.

Works Minister Baru Bian said he would talk to state governments about the possibility of the proposal.

“I am sure there are leeways where we can cooperate with state governments, given the economic challenges.

“Finding maintenance funds for federal roads has been a problem, and we hope to resolve it this way,” he said in a press conference at the Malaysian Highway Authority northern region office here today.

Federal and rural roads are usually maintained through funds from the works ministry and the rural development ministry.

Funds for the maintenance of state roads come from the State Road Grants provision under Article 109 (1) (b) of the Federal Constitution.

The funds are placed under Marris, or the Malaysian Road Records Information System. They are placed under a trust handled by the state governments.

Those seeking funds must apply for them. The money is given through grants, based on a pre-determined formula which calculates the length, width and grade of the road in question.

There are about 50,000km of federal roads in the country under the watch of the works ministry, excluding Sabah and Sarawak.

Federal routes are marked with numbers, while state roads are marked with an alphabet and a number. The alphabet denotes the state the road comes under.

In Penang, besides the state, the Public Works Department, the Drainage and Irrigation Department also apply for Marris funds as it accounts for 30% of roads there, the majority of which are in rice fields.

The other roads in Penang are municipal roads which are maintained by local councils.

When asked if the federal government would allocate more funds to maintain Penang’s state roads, Baru said it would be difficult as the government was currently tightening its finances.

He said opening Marris funds to all roads would be the best idea. It would be highly beneficial for road maintenance in rural areas, especially in Sarawak’s “Jiwa Murni” roads which are reportedly in a bad state.

Baru said most of the rural roads in Sarawak were built by the federal government, but were not given Marris funds for their maintenance. He said logically, all roads should be eligible to apply for Marris funds.

“I am glad to hear there is some kind of development in Sarawak now, and the state has changed the rules to include Jiwa Murni or kampung roads to be eligible for Marris funds,” he said.

Baru is in town for a working visit to Penang’s two bridges after the introduction of toll-free rides for motorcycles beginning Jan 1. - FMT