PETALING JAYA: A nationwide safety audit of billboards, gantries and other structures along the country’s highways should be carried out to ensure they are not a threat to the lives and safety of road users, says Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.
The Alliance for a Safe Community chairman said billboards, overhead gantries, signboards and steel frames were exposed to risks such as heavy rain, strong winds, corrosion, material fatigue and ageing.
“We cannot afford to wait for a structure to potentially crush vehicles before action is taken.”
Lee’s call came following an incident where a large structure, believed to be a highway gantry, collapsed across KM8.4 of the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) late Friday night.
Lee said the audit should cover the physical condition of structures, their foundations, joints and bolts, corrosion levels and their ability to withstand weather.
He proposed that highway authorities and operators keep a full inventory of all structures and billboards, including their owners, installation dates, maintenance parties and latest inspection dates.
Responsibility must not rest solely with highway operators, he said.
