RM1.8 Billion Not Enough To Maintain Federal Roads?

Senior Works Minister, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, stated that a total of RM1.8 billion has been allocated to maintain federal roads in Malaysia.

That's the figure that has been allocated for road maintenance throughout the country, but is it enough? According to previous reports (and the many years before that), it's apparently not and has never been adequate. Apa kes?

RM3.4 billion needed by next year

It was only back in June when the Works Minister stated that an allocation of RM3.4 billion was needed to repair the federal roads throughout Peninsular Malaysia. As for the RM1.8 billion already allocated, a sum of RM150 million was used for maintenance works in the states of Pahang, Johor, and Negeri Sembilan.

Pahang's expenses for maintenance sat at RM66.08 million, followed by Johor at RM60.8 million, and Negeri Sembilan at RM23.63 million. Quite a sum to pay, but definitely necessary for overall safety. Having said that, is the RM1.8 billion enough compared to the figure stated just a couple of months ago?

How much has been allocated so far?

Going back to previous years, there's always one particular figure that has popped up for federal road maintenance in Malaysia - RM2 billion. Unsurprisingly, that figure has never been delivered by the government.

Back in 2018, the works ministry mentioned that they've only been receiving somewhere between RM600-RM800 million every year since 2015. Quite a long shot compared to the RM2 billion they've been asking for.

2019 was probably the worst year for the works ministry as only RM100 million was allocated for road maintenance based on the 2019 Budget Plan. The reason? Costs had to be cut by the government to reduce Malaysia's RM1 trillion debt. Aiyo, indeed!

They did, however, seek an additional RM610 million for the Finance Ministry, back in 2019.

*Image credit: The Star

Is RM1.8 billion enough for 2022?

With the rise in costs in almost everything in Malaysia (and based on the RM3.4 billion initially quoted by the works ministry back in June), it's probably going to greatly help in a few areas, but it won't be 100% coverage.

It's definitely a huge improvement compared to what was allocated in recent years, but it's still short of the RM2 billion the works ministry has been quoting since 2015. And that under allocation adds up every year paired with more road users year-on-year. Have you seen all the traffic jams lately? Gila!