Public Works Ministry spends entire RM2b road maintenance allocation, to seek more funds

SEBERANG PERAI, Aug 18 — The Works Ministry has fully used its roughly RM2 billion allocation for road maintenance and aims to seek more allocation, Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said today.

However, he said the ministry needs about RM4 billion annually to carry out repairs more comprehensively.

“We spent all of the RM2 billion annually, we cannot keep it,” Ahmad said in a press conference after officiating the CIDB Northern Region Contractor Convention 2026: NexGen Builders at the PICCA Convention Centre @ Butterworth Arena here.

He said the ministry, its senior officials and the Works Minister were scheduled to meet Finance Minister II later today to seek additional funding for road maintenance needs.

He said this included asking for more funds to maintain damaged roads and improve safety for road users.

“Hopefully, road maintenance allocations can be increased,” he said.

Ahmad said the ministry had to prioritise accident-prone locations, or accident hotspots, because available funding was insufficient to address every road maintenance need nationwide.

“We understand that we cannot obtain everything we need,” he said.

“What we do is give priority to hotspots and places where accidents frequently occur, to maintain them properly – whether through resurfacing works, road furniture maintenance or lighting maintenance,” he added.

He said the ministry could not illuminate every stretch of highway, but the Malaysian Highway Authority had been allocated 3,000 new highway lights this year.

“We cannot light up the entire highway network, but thankfully this year we received 3,000 new lights for highways through the Malaysian Highway Authority,” he said.

“The need is greater than that, but that is what we have received,” he said.

Ahmad said road conditions were only one of several factors contributing to accidents, citing figures which he said showed 81 per cent of accidents were caused by human negligence.

“Road maintenance accounts for only 13 per cent,” he said.

“Road conditions may involve winding roads that need to be addressed, or dark roads that need lighting. But the majority still refers to human negligence,” he added.

He said vehicle-related accidents, which accounts for seven per cent, could involve issues such as brake failure, poor vehicle maintenance or a lack of replacement parts.

Asked about congestion, Ahmad pointed to the locally developed Tuju application, launched by the ministry through the Malaysian Highway Authority, which provides road users with live traffic information and navigation services.

“There is Google Maps and Waze for navigation around the world. The ministry, through the Malaysian Highway Authority, has launched a new application called Tuju,” he said.

“Tuju tells users which roads are not congested, toll rates, the location of rest and service areas, emergency contacts and the most efficient navigation route to reach a destination,” he added.

He said the application includes MyJalan, a feature that allows users to lodge complaints on damaged roads, while Tuju has real-time access to thousands of highway authority closed-circuit television cameras.

“It is locally made,” he said, adding that the application was intended to help motorists avoid congested highway routes.