LETTER | Well-maintained roads can reduce accidents during festive periods

LETTER | One could see a lot of frantic activity in the last few days as workers are patching up potholes and depressions on the roads in Selangor to make them safer in anticipation of the Hari Raya balik kampong rush that will start anytime this week.

Selangor recorded some of the highest numbers of accidents and casualties in the last few years during the festive period.

Apart from the vast increase in traffic - cars and motorcycles - on the roads, one must also note that in the past years, many of the major roads in Selangor had road works and construction going on creating accident-prone conditions on the congested roads, detours and reducing the number of lanes to aid construction activity.

Fortunately, this year there is less risk as some of the major projects along the roads as well as construction of new roads and highways have been completed.

Selangor has the largest mileage of roads in the country maintained by the federal and state governments as well as the local authorities. Regrettably, a lot of these roads are not in top condition as for more than a decade road re-surfacing schedules have not been regularly followed considering the wear and tear and adverse weather.

One recalls fondly the BN administration days when a month or two before a general election one could observe major re-surfacing programmes all over Selangor, costing tens of millions of ringgit. Even good roads were re-paved!

Alas, this is no more as the Pakatan Harapan Selangor government is more interested in saving than spending. Road re-surfacing costs have shot up exponentially and bigger allocations are therefore needed.

One often sees plenty of potholes, rough and bumpy stretches, steep road edges due to inconsiderate re-surfacing, litter on the roads especially at junctions, faded lane and other markings, signboards blocked by trees, branches jutting onto the road, not to mention untrimmed grass on the side of the roads and uncleared drains.

Traffic on some stretches comes to a standstill during a downpour, and water remains stagnant even after the rain has stopped. Many of these can be attributed to poor road maintenance and supervision.

Good roads minimise accidents and casualties on the roads, especially during the festive periods. The police, too, need to chip in as their presence is essential at roads/junctions leading to or diverging from the highways and major trunk roads as these are spots where congestion builds up. The police could direct the traffic on these roads better than traffic lights and their duty must be appreciated.

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