KUALA LUMPUR: Another RM3.3bil will be needed to resolve the backlog of maintenance work for federal roads across the country, says Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.

       He said the money would be used to maintain 3,821.03km of the country’s federal roads, adding that this includes pothole repairs.

       He said this is in addition to the RM3.3bil that had been used for the same purpose from 2018 to 2023.

       “The allocation given during this period has still not been able to solve the problem of damaged roads as a whole. The deterioration has been caused by increasing traffic nationwide as well as overloaded heavy vehicles,” said Nanta on Thursday (March 14).

       He was responding to a question from Mohd Hasnizan Harun (PN-Hulu Selangor) in the Dewan Rakyat on the ministry’s efforts to overcome the constant issue of road repair work throughout the country.

       To this, Nanta also said that new “speciality mixes” which had been developed by collaboration between the ministry and private companies are being used for road repairs.

       He added that these included crumb rubber modified asphalt, super fibre mix, fibre mastic asphalt among others.

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       He added that the ministry had conducted audits of the production plants of these materials.

       “This is to ensure that the quality of the materials used for these mixes and the mixes themselves match the ministry’s preset requirements and standards for road repair,” he added.