SUNGAI BULOH: Overloaded heavy vehicles are the main cause of road damage, says Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
He said a special committee formed by the Works Ministry and the Transport Ministry to address overloading is currently discussing ways to overcome the problem.
“Heavy vehicles are a clear cause of road damage ... that is why there is a load limit, but there are still those who violate the rules.
“The secretaries-general and officers from these ministries are looking at how to deal with this issue,” he told Bernama after conducting traffic monitoring at the Sungai Buloh Overhead Bridge Restaurant (Northbound) in conjunction with the Aidilfitri exodus.
Nanta was responding to media reports that heavy vehicles carrying loads exceeding 10% of their permissible laden weight (BDM) can cause the lifespan of roads to decrease by up to 50%.
Meanwhile, Nanta said the level of preparedness of various agencies to deal with the increase in vehicles on all major highways in conjunction with Aidilfitri, which is expected to be celebrated next Monday, is at its best.
During the visit, he was briefed by Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) director-general Datuk Sazali Harun and PLUS Malaysia Bhd chief operating officer Datuk Zakaria Ahmad Zabidi, besides mingling and presenting Raya goodies to road users who stopped at the rest area.
The government has declared a 50% toll discount for Aidilfitri, applicable yesterday (Friday) and today (Saturday), with an estimated compensation of RM19.69mil to be disbursed to the respective highway concessionaires.
The high outbound traffic movement from the capital to the north, south and east coasts of Peninsular Malaysia began on Thursday and is expected to last until tomorrow, while the return movement is expected on April 4 to 6.
During the festive season, LLM expects an increase in traffic volume to 2.77 million vehicles per day on major highways, with 2.1 million on PLUS highways, the KL-Karak Motorway (216,000), the West Coast Motorway (176,000), the East Coast Motorway (LPT) 1 (156,000) and LPT2 (70,000).
In a statement, LLM also said Nanta reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensure concessionaires carry out their responsibilities so that services and facilities on the highways are in the best condition.
It said patrol and emergency response teams involving agencies such as the police, fire brigade, Road Transport Department and Rela have been directed to ensure a quick response time to any incident on the highways by providing immediate assistance.
