Review contract of firm looking after Perak roads, state assembly told

IPOH: The contract given to a private company to maintain Perak roads should be terminated for poor performance, says a state assemblyman.

Ong Boon Piow (PH-Bercham) told the state assembly the company, Puncak Emas Infra Sdn Bhd, had not performed well.

“Recently, I went to the Tasek industrial site and we could see many potholes and uneven surfaces. I have been lodging complaints for the past six months, yet nothing has been done.

“I remember uploading some pictures of the patched road on Facebook.

"Shortly afterwards, I was bombarded with comments saying that there are many potholes and uneven roads. I think the company's contract should be terminated,” he said at the state assembly sitting here on Tuesday (Dec 27).

Earlier, during the question-and-answer session, housing and local government committee chairman Sandrea Ng Shy Ching told Goh See Hua (PH-Pasir Pinji) that the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) had allocated more than RM133mil to Ipoh City Council this year.

“The allocation is for road maintenance including paving works. For Pasir Pinji, a total of RM198,460 has been used to pave roads and fix potholes on several streets including Persiaran Tokong, parts of Jalan Foo Eng Lin, Jalan Holmberg, Jalan Ng Kheng Tan and Jalan Bunga Kala.

“Based on our checks, Pasir Pinji had minor road damage. Therefore, the roads were patched. Repaving will be suggested for roads that have exceeded their 'lifespan'," she said.

Burhanuddin Ahmad (PN-Manong) then asked if there had been any complaints about unevenly patched roads in the state.

Ng replied that several people had lodged complaints about this.

“Together with the local governments and land district offices, we take note of the concerns raised by the public.

"Research has been conducted from time to time to ensure that the patching was done properly to avoid any mishaps,” she said.