Three ministries discussing ways to address road issues

KUALA LUMPUR - The Works Ministry (KKR) has initiated a strategic cooperation with the Transport Ministry (MOT) and Housing and Local Government (KPKT) Ministry to address the issue of road damage and maintenance in Malaysia.

KKR said the cooperation was formed through an engagement session attended by the respective ministries' leaders, led by its Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, Transport Minister Anthony Loke and Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu on Monday.

The involvement of the three ministries, KKR said, was due to their respective jurisdiction over roads and enforcement, which were interrelated and required strong synergy in addressing road safety issues.

"The engagement session discussed cross-ministerial cooperation in seeking the best mechanism to address road damage issues under the jurisdiction of each ministry.

"This mechanism will be further refined before strategic actions are implemented under the MYJalan Program," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Furthermore, KKR elaborated that other key matters discussed in the engagement session included strengthening cooperation among ministries to resolve road damage complaints received through the MYJalan application.

The application was launched by the Prime Minister on August 24, 2023, serving as a facilitator for complainants by receiving all types of complaints in line with the 'No Wrong Door Policy' concept of the application.

"Since its launch until March 29, 2024, the application received 13,391 complaints related to various road issues, with statistics showing that 26.51 percent are complaints about roads owned by KKR, while the rest, 73.49 percent, are owned by various other parties.

"Therefore, this engagement session is significant in ensuring that user complaints can be resolved with the serious involvement of other road owners to ensure the comfort and safety of the public," it added.

KKR further said the discussions between KKR, MOT, and KPKT also aimed at proposing the establishment of a task force consisting of all road owner representatives who would report on the status of complaint resolutions periodically.

It stated that the task force would also scrutinise each proposal, issue and challenges presented by representatives of each ministry and agency in the collaboration session.

"The synergy of various parties proves KKR's commitment to empowering and popularising the MYJalan Program as a shared agenda at the national level.

"The issue of road maintenance will continue to be KKR's focus in managing the nation's public infrastructure because its impact is not only in terms of the country's financial aspect but more importantly, the lives of users," it added.